Ride of the Royals
by Danny Drak
Summary: Slow Burn SwanQueen: Misplaced as an infant, Emma finds herself growing up in a magical world riddled with magic, war, and a bloodthirsty queen who, despite everything, fate seems keen on keeping them together.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my official warning: This is a Slow Burn and I mean SLOOOOOW Burn. The outline is already made, so I definitely know how slow it's going to be. The updates will be steady but about a week between.**

Stumbling through the thick forest, a pair of bloody nobles clutched to their swords. Behind them, the sound of horses and clattering armor thundered and encouraged them to force their tired bodies farther. Of course, the soft crying from the child safely tucked into her father's embrace helped.

"Charming." Snow White breathed: aware that, in her condition, they wouldn't outrun the mass behind them. She already loved her crying daughter but she wished, with all her soul, that the child had chosen a better time to be born. As was, they'd barely cut the cord when Regina's men had appeared and forced the sore and exhausted mother into a manhunt.

Charming clutched his daughter when she started to fuss. Obviously the newborn was hungry and displeased being jostled about just moments after being born. Yet, despite a healthy few screams she'd made when she was first born, she was being perfectly quiet. He had never loved a being more.

"There!" Charming grinned at his tired wife. "That must be Maleficent's cave."

"Maleficent?" Snow shrieked. "The new dragon mother? Yes. Let's just waltz in. I'm sure that will go over well."

Charming made haste to the cave. "I heard the village people over talking at dinner. They said that she'd been shot down."

"Do you believe that?"

Charming paused. "I have to." Looking back, he gave her a resigned smile. "We don't have any other choose."

Snow nodded. "You're right. Who knows what will happen if Regina gets a hold of our little Emma."

With that scary thought in mind, the Charmings entered into the mouth of the cave. Listening, Charming mumbled, "I think we lost them." He surveyed the cave home around him in search of a flash of teeth or glitter of scales.

"I don't think anyone is home." Snow announced. She saddled up next to her husband to smile down at the bundle in her arms. "Hello, Little one. Your life is going to be full of adventure."

Charming chuckled.

A clash sounded somewhere into the cave. Aware that something was looming behind him, Charming whirled around with his sword drawn. The blade sank deeply into the defenseless egg behind them.

Charming withdrew his sword quickly. From the broken egg shell, a green goo fell to the stone floor. For a moment, the two Charmings could see the shape of a baby dragon but, without the egg, it took a shudder and disappeared into a watery puddle onto the floor.

Being a fresh mother, Snow found herself tearing up. She grabbed her husband's forearm. "It's okay."

"I just…"

"Maleficent is dead." Snow comforted. "The egg would have died without her warming it up"

"Yeah." Charming shook his head. "Yeah, you're right."

Another clash sounded within the cave. Charming turned to flee but, looking upon Snow's flushed and shaking frame, he knew that their running was over.

"There is a river just left of here." Snow breathed. "If we reach that, we can out swim her men."

"But Snow…" Holding his daughter close, the King refused to even think about subjecting his newly born daughter to the cold river. He started to look around. "We can hide her here then come back once the danger has gone. We will have to be swift."

Peering around, Charming walked to the broken dragon egg. "Only an idiot would mess with a dragon's egg." Snow shot her husband an amused glance.

"But they'll see its been tampered with." Snow gestured to the gaping hole. "You, my Darling Kind, have made quite a mess."

"Yes but…" Digging through his pockets, he pulled out a potion, "I also have made quite a friend."

"The potion." Snow said in surprise.

"The one King Arthur gave us." He shook the vial. "It fixes anything that is broken."

Wrapping Emma in her white, embodied blanket. They both kissed her forehead and stared down at her daughter. She was mere hours old and she was already being stuffed into a dragon egg for her own safety.

Putting the baby at the bottom of the dragon's egg, they said their goodbyes one more time before dumping the vial over the egg. Within moments, the gaping hole was gone and all was left was a perfectly intact egg: one that Regina's solider would see and, because of the friendship between Maleficent and the Evil Queen, would leave it be.

"Think they'll see this?" Charming gestured to the green goo of the dead fetus.

Snow smiled. "If they are working for Regina, I can promise you that they aren't that smart."

Sharing a love struck smile, they departed: knocking over things to create enough of a noise to draw Regina's men away from the egg and back into the woods. Then the two nobles disappeared into the forest: the river their destination.

Maleficent growled at a squirrel peering down from the branches. She debated shooting it down with a stream of fire but her protesting back reminded her to save what remained of her strength.

She hated the village people. She had just been flying and, feeling a little hungry, had stopped to pick up a cow. It wasn't even a particularly healthy cow but the village people had been outraged and shot her from the sky.

Her wings had sustained damage, so she'd spent the next four hours hiking back towards her cave, egg, and healing potions. It was rather irritating to have such an abundance of magic but having black magic's restrictions which meant it couldn't be used for healing reasons.

Coming into her home, she could smell that people had been in here. She could smell obsidian armor that Regina's men were adorned with. She relaxed. Regina's men would only be in there if they had to and wouldn't touch anything if their life depended on it.

Walking to her egg, she froze. The egg was intact but, lying next to it, was what had once been her baby. Now, a common misconception about dragons would dictate that she'd loose her temper and destroy half the land. But, the sad truth was, most dragons died before they were hatched.

Dragon young had to be constantly attended to. Their eggs had to remain at an exact heat: if it was too hot, they'd die and, if too cold, they'd perish. Dragons lost over 90% of all eggs they'd hatched and Maleficent had long accepted that. She'd hoped this egg would hatch but she'd been prepared for this exact scenario.

She leaned down and poked a finger into the green goo. It sparkled with magic. She hoped none of Regina's men had direct contact with it. This amount of pure magic was very unpredictable.

She drug her tired body over the mantle place. Her healing potions glittered in the flickering light of the fire place. As she reached for a potion, she thought she heard a thud. She paused. Who would be unlucky enough to stumble into her cave when she was in such a state?

Passing it off as a fragment of her imagination, she plucked a green potion from the mantle and swallowed the bitter concoction in one go. She hissed as the potion raced through her veins and repaired any of the damage.

Eyes closed, she heard the sound again.

Curious, Maleficent eyed the egg. It was wiggling and the thumping sound was definitely coming from inside. She walked over to it. Circling it, she confirmed that it was unbroken and stared at the egg. She hadn't been this baffled in a very long time.

She drug her long nails across the egg's rough surface. The egg stopped wiggling and the sounds stopped. Then there was a raping sound from inside. It was as if someone was knocking at a door.

Without preamble, Maleficent drove her fist through the eggshell. The entire shell shattered in its entirety and, from her egg, spilled a naked girl. She definitely wasn't a dragon. Her hair was a golden yellow, her skin ghostly pale, and her eyes a calm and inquisitive green.

"Who are you?" Maleficent demanded. "I have a hard enough time carrying a baby to term without interference."

The girl clutched a blanket. She wasn't clutching it to her chest for modesty reasons, Maleficent noticed, but just because she could. She didn't need it to cover anything. The girl only looked to be 13 and hadn't quite developed anything that would draw the dragon's eyes.

Awkwardly flinging her limbs about, the girl attempted to sit up. Maleficent wondered if the girl had ever done it before. Finally, the girl seemed to give up, laid on the ground, and let out a shrill cry. Her nose crinkled, mouth fell agape, and her fists grabbed onto the blanket as she had an honest to goodness tantrum on Maleficent's floor.

Aghast, the dragon grabbed the girl's flailing wrist. "What are you? An infant! Stop that unsightly behavior."

The girl grabbed onto Maleficent's forearm and her body arched up. The girl's eyes turned a blinding white and, to Maleficent's dismay, she felt the girl inside her mind. It wasn't an overly aggressive intrusion but the dragon was unable to shove the girl out.

Finally, the girl's released the dragon's wrist and flopped back to the ground.

Maleficent backed away from the girl while she rubbed her temples. She had forgotten how unpleasant it was to have someone poke through her mind.

"Stop that unsightly behavior!" The girl commanded.

Maleficent blinked: hearing the words she had just said being spoken back to her in the same infliction, she'd used. The girl sat up with a sudden grace of a feline and stared down Maleficent with cool and detached eyes.

"Excuse me?"

The girl raised her head. "How dare you be so disrespectful in front of a dragon?" She sneered up at the dragon. "I'll allow you to live since you don't obviously know who I am."

"I'm going to guess your name is…Emma?" Maleficent questioned: eying the name written across the blanket.

"I am Maleficent." The girl snarled. "I am a dragon with the power to bring the world to its knees!"

The dragon blinked before scowling. "You Pheasant. Just because you stole _my_ memories, does not make you anything more than you are!"

"I am a dragon." The girl said dangerously. Her green eyes flashed: daring this strange woman to disagree with her.

Maleficent sighed. "I'm bored now." She held a hand out to the girl and the girl was suddenly jerked into the air. "You'll life with be rather disappointing. Having my memories will make you think you are me but, the sad truth is, you'll never be."

With a flick of her wrist, she set the girl tumbling down the mountain and deep into the forest. Knowing herself, Maleficent knew the girl would return for revenge. Still, a mentally disabled 13 year old girl with grand illusions of being a dragon wasn't something for her to lose a moment's sleep over.

Finally coming to a stop, the thirteen year old sat up. She scowled and attempted to fix the mess that was her hair. Looking down at herself, she curled her nose up. "How unsightly." She put her hand over her body and was surprised to see that she wasn't suddenly clothed but remained naked.

"Thief." She shrieked. "A thief has taken my magic. They shall be slaughtered like the useless swine they are."

"You have had something stolen from you, aye?"

Emma whirled to face the man that had emerged from the trees. He was dressed in loose fitting furs, had a head of unruly black hair, and held a whip in his hand. Emma saw the whip. She remembered seeing that whip when she'd been in dragon form and eating a man with such a whip. He had been a slave trader.

"That's funny. See cause I like to steal stuff." The man laughed and grabbed a rope connected to his belt. With a sharp jerk, he pulled a line of tied women and children from the brushes. They were a fearful bunch and Emma compared them to a field of sheep she was about to fry.

Turning her head up, she scoffed. "A slave trader is lower than even those he trades." Eyeing the mass of trembling and dirty figures, she sniffled. "You are a maggot among pigs."

The man's massive jaw fell agape. It was clear that he had never been spoken to in such a manner. A little boy snickered. The man whirled around as if to strike the boy but the little boy just straightened his back and pulled a face.

"What did you say to me, Little Girl?" He eyed the naked woman uninterestedly. Many slave traders used their wears as they saw fit. Good slave traders never did. Seeing the unmarred skin and innocent look that the girl sported (when her mouth was closed), the slave trader searched the nearby woods for a guardian of some lurking about. He wasn't lucky enough to stumble upon a helpless girl was he?

Another trader appeared behind the group of captured souls. He was much younger and seemed almost scared of the bound people. The older trader handed off the rope slowly. Emma arched her eyebrow.

"If you plan to capture me, you'll find yourself sorely outmatched."

The man just laughed and lunged forward. He gathered the naked girl in his arms. Emma, frustrated that she hadn't changed into a giant dragon, kicked about for a little until she was suddenly bombarded with the man's memories: as she had been with Maleficent's.

She went limp. Two lifetime worth of memories fought inside her head.

"Lot of fight, you had." The slave trader snorted. He tossed the girl at the group of slaves. The slaves all twisted their bound hands to catch the flying girl. It must have been five or six different pairs of hands touching her at once. Her brain nearly exploded with the sudden onslaught of forigen memories.

Was her name _Jack? Kahlan? Phillip? Eric? Sebastian? Dalton? Aerial? Aurora?_

Was she the daughter of a horse breeder? A stable hand? Nobility on her aunt's cousin side?

Emma's body convulsed before falling limp. Her head was filled with knowledge and pain that weren't hers. She felt her heart stretch a hundred different ways as she found herself loving more people than one person should.

One of the slaves slipped off a ratty cloak and draped it over the unconscious girl.

"Pick her up!" The slave trader insisted. "I can hear someone coming. It might be that queen!" The slave trader wasn't sexiest. He didn't care that a woman ruled the land. He just cared that it was a monarch with a particular dislike for the slave trade. He'd lost two different sets of cargo ever since Regina had taken the throne.

A boy, not much older than Emma herself, picked up the unconscious girl. As soon as he'd settled her weight, a pair of soaking wet people burst from the trees. Both groups were genuinely surprised to see each other.

Snow gave the slaves an exasperated look. She had finally lost Regina's men and only wanted to return and get her daughter but a hero's work was never done. The Charmings had the moral standing that did not allow to turn their back on these people in need of help.

"You get the slave trader and I'll free the slaves." Charming told his wife. Snow darted towards the large man. The younger slave trader instantly dropped the slaves and fled. The older trader's eyes widened as there was suddenly a sword pointed at his throat.

"Swallow too hard and you just might get cut." Snow warned.

"Damn women." The slave trader groaned. "You gals are ruining a very respectable profession." Shaking her head, Snow placed a sharp kick to the man's temple. He crumpled to the ground.

"Snow…"

"Oh, I didn't kill him." Snow said. Then she saw what Charming was holding. It was Emma's blanket. The blanket they'd left with their helpless infant and should not be in the possession of a notorious slave trader.

"Where did you get this?" Charming demanded at the unconscious body. Snow looked sheepish for a split second before whirling onto the slaves.

"Is there a baby here?" She asked harshly.

The slaves shook their head. "This girl brought it with her." One of the slaves pointed at Emma. She still wasn't completely coherent but her mind was slowly shifting and sorting the memories until she could function.

When her mind calmed enough to make sense of her surrounding, she found herself face to face with a black haired woman.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS BLANKET?"

Emma gaped at the woman. She had so many responses built up that she couldn't choose one.

The only thing she could do is jump to her feet. The cloak fell and Charming instantly looked away: feeling a mortified blush settle upon his cheeks. Emma was just overwhelmed. The only thing that she recognized was that blanket the woman was holding. It wasn't an intense recognition: just a dull throb of familiarity.

She lunged forward and grabbed the blanket. She surprised the woman.

"Give that back." The woman snarled. The woman lunged forward. Emma made a startled noise. It was half human and half dragon: a sound so fearful that it bordered pathetic. Charming grabbed Snow before she could tackle the girl.

Charming had heard the noise. Maybe it was the fact that he was a newly appointed father but he felt a flash of protectiveness towards the naked girl.

"Come on, Snow." Charming pulled his wife's arm. "We have to get to Emma." The woman's eyes flashed over the girl's face. If her infant wasn't where she'd left her, she'd be back to find this girl. Her eyes flickered down to the blanket but decided her infant was more important.

The pair disappeared.

Emma staggered about as the peace in her head was broken. She fell to her knees.

Who was she? _Jack? Kahlan? Phillip? Eric? Sebastian? Dalton? Aerial? Aurora?_ Did she like tomatoes? Yes. No. She was deathly allergic. Her fingertips pressed harder and harder into her temple until she could feel a stinging pain over the thunderstorm in her mind.

She was almost certain that she was about to be consumed. Then she felt wet against her cheek. It numbed the swirling thoughts.

Opening her eyes, she met a long snout with brown, curious eyes peering down at her. Many memories came to the forefront of her mind. _Wolf._

If her memories had had their way, she would have run. However; she didn't. The wolf wasn't a pup nor was it an adult. It was just a small wolf with overgrown paws and a toothy smile. Under Emma's curious eyes, the wolf nearly wiggled at out of its skin.

The wolf, very clearly a boy, darted forward and placed a quick nip on Emma's shoulder. It was an invitation to play but Emma squealed at the sudden and sharp pain. Startled by the girl's shriek, the wolf darted into a nearby thicket with his tail tucked.

Emma thought the wolf was gone but, moments later, it ran back. He ran at Emma and, right before reaching her, he took a sharp turn. It took Emma a moment to realize that the animal was playing.

Hearing the pearls of laughter, the animal returned once again. This time, he threw himself into Emma's lap. Emma wasn't bombarded with his memories like she had been by everyone else's. The wolf's memories were simple: socialization, eating, mating, and sleeping. Despite their simplicity, they were overpowering. They quieted the thunderous human thoughts.

Sitting up, Emma let out a playful huff. The male, delighted at Emma's sudden playfulness, began to bounce around. Emma followed suit. A person would be surprised to learn that wolves didn't have a language but they spoke with everything they did.

Bumping and bounding about, the two didn't see the rest of the pack watching. Their heads kept cocking from one side to another. They were confused by this creature who acted like a wolf but was most certainly not so. His litter mates instantly rushed forward.

Emma didn't fear it. She knew the little black wolf leaping at her throat still hadn't managed to catch her first rabbit or that the massive sandy colored wolf had a bad back leg that prevented him from spinning to fast. As they clashed, the collection of children rolled about. A few yelps and the young wolves quickly learned that this strange creature was easily hurt and gentled their bites.

The adults watched. Besides a slightly anxious mother, they were at ease with the creature. Breaking free from the pack, and loaded with nearly four wolves worth of memories, Emma bounded over to the adults.

She submissively approached the alpha pair: licking her licks, rapidly blinking, and yawning to show her harmless intent. The two alpha wolves: an older grey male and a slightly larger whitish female both snarled at her goofy approach.

Emma laid on her back and whined. The two snarled over her and Emma continued to whine and shrink away. Satisfied with her response, they turned and walked back into the brush. The pack followed after. Running by her, the young wolves brushed against her and began to bite at her naked flesh.

Emma knew the alphas hadn't given her an invitation to follow and following would be seen as a hostile and improper action. Maybe being able to steal the memories of those she touched was a good thing.

The alpha male looked over his shoulder at her. Letting out a huff, he officially offered the strange pup the option to follow. With that, Emma rushed after the pack. Her thoughts were filled with the gentle sound of nature. The hurricane that was human memories were finally quieted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Emma's 13** **th** **Winter**

Squatting beside the half gutted corpse, Emma fidgets. Her lack of speed and strength has forever pushed her to the bottom of the pack: beside the newest batch of pups. The result of her placement meant that she couldn't eat until the rest of the pack had. In most cases, she wouldn't even be allowed this close to the carcass but her lack of fur meant she would do whatever she could to survive the bitter cold day. Even if that meant standing in the rising steam from a freshly dead animal.

The two alphas finally tore into the prized intestines and drug them off to eat in peace. With the alphas gone, Emma dug into the corpse herself. She couldn't eat as fast as her family, so she grabbed a large slab of side and slunk away to find some place quiet to eat.

Rubbing her calloused hands against her arms, she cuddled up into a tree for some relief against the wind. She pulled away the fur and simply ate the meat. Her family could eat the bones, fur, and fat alike but Emma found that it was upsetting to her digestive tract.

She tore hungrily into it. Moaning as the steamy meat slipped down into her shivering body. One of her brothers, a little wolf with a white ear, stalked near her as if to steal her meat. She barred her teeth and he went about his way. Possession was the law for wolves.

She ate until her stomach felt uncomfortably full and she was afraid to exhale: should the food suddenly shoot out. She ran to where her pack mates were sprawled about and in the throes of digestion. She clambered atop of each wolf until she was able to settle between two older wolves.

The wolves, used to her needy ways, let out little growls and groans of irritation but let the strange pup wiggle between them.

Emma instantly fell asleep. After all, Emma had to travel nearly a hundred miles to reach their destination.

Regina's POV

Regina knew better than to kill the messenger but that didn't stop her from shoving his lifeless body down the staircase. Her servants expertly stepped out of the body's way and ignored the thud as it finally reached the bottom.

"Does anyone else have anymore disappointing news for me?" The queen demanded. She peered over the rail at all her servants. She wasn't surprised when no one spoke. "Find me that child!"

Turning away, Regina sighed. This was proving to be a time wasting endeavor. Finding Snow White's lost infant was supposed to be easy. After all, she had the realm's best trackers in her service but, after nearly six months, she was starting to doubt her army of werewolves' abilities.

Dead or alive, she thought she'd have had the child by now. If the baby was alive then Regina would happily raise it in the Dark Kingdom just to piss of the Charming Reign. If dead then Regina had no doubt that the White Kingdom residents would look so highly upon their King and Queen if they knew the baby had been tossed aside just so the Charmings could save themselves.

"Problematic just like it's parents." Regina growled.

Right before she reached her chambers, she heard the sound of clanking armor rushing towards her. From around the corner, rushed her Huntsman and Groundskeeper Graham. He was a rather handsome man and, for someone without a heart, he had caring eyes. It irritated Regina more than words could convey.

"Why are you making so much racket?" Regina snarled. Graham clumsily kneeled at her feet.

"I have rather bad news, My Queen."

"You are lucky there isn't a staircase nearby." The queen said lowly. When the groundskeeper didn't say anything, Regina snapped. "Well, out with it! What of this bad news?"

"The wolf pack has returned to your Majesties Royal Forest."

"They do this every winter." Regina said impatiently. "What of it?"

"There are many reports of a girl stalking them. The tales seem outlandish: a fable spun by lonely shepherds and loggers of a naked girl running with the pack. However; the wolf pack's numbers have been reduced significantly since last year, so there is a possibility that this girl is…killing the wolves."

"A poacher poaching my wolves?" The queen exclaimed. Her eyes transformed from a chocolate brown into a swirling purple. "Surely, no one is that stupid!" Whirling to face Graham, the Queen snarled. "The safe keeping of that pack of wolves marks my alliance with the werewolves. Not only is poacher jeopardizing that but she is disrespecting my rule!"

Graham nodded but refused to meet her eyes. This was not how he wanted to die.

"Get Red. I want the two of you to personally hunt down this poacher and parade her fabled naked body through the squares to be publically executed!" When the Huntsman didn't obey quick enough, she used her magic to pick up the gentle natured man and race him through the halls until he was deposited onto the bloody and misshapen form of her last victim.

Picking himself off the mutilated body, Graham kept his face void of emotion.

"You really ought to learn the art of haste." Came a sultry voice. Graham looked up to see Ruby, or Red as the Queen called her since she was incapable of learning any of her servant's names, leaning against the staircase.

"I was just about to come find you."

"No need." She tapped her ears. "I heard the whole thing."

"So no explanation required?"

Ruby shook her head. "We better leave soon. Werewolves evolved from that pack of wolves' bloodlines. If the others hear about this, that poacher will be dead long before the queen gets her public execution."

Graham nervously straightened his armor. "And I doubt she would be very happy about that."

"I think not." Ruby agreed. The two had been paired together quite often: Graham being the Groundskeeper who was raised by wolves and Ruby as a run between between the queen and the pack. They were fond of each other and, besides one dalliance one winter, they were simple friends.

They partnered so well together for one reason as well. They'd prefer to walk than ride a horse. Seeing as horses feared the wolf sealed inside Ruby and Graham's riding ability was level to a child's, they simply ran.

Luckily for them, The Royal Forest bordered the back of the Dark Kingdom. It was close enough for the Queen to monitor but far enough away that there was a separation between vicious wildlife and the village people. The inhabitants of The Royal Forest were so monstrous that Graham's job consisted mostly of saving man from beast: not the other way around.

It took two hours to reach the forest. Both parties felt at home surrounded by the looming, black trees and the sorrowful songs of the local birds. Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth and let loose a howl.

It cracked and Ruby winced. Her human formed throat wasn't capable of hitting every note correctly but, as the answering howl showed, the sound was close enough to warrant a response.

"This will be far too easy." Ruby commented as they tracked their way towards the wolf howl. While the wolf had sounded as if it was mere minutes away, they both knew the wolf could be miles off.

"Shhh." Ruby instantly shushed Graham. The man sniffled. He hadn't thought he was making any noise but, to Ruby, he could every step he took as if it was muffled thunder. "The pack is just over this hill."

The two dropped to their knees and crawled to peer over the hill. Both of them would have been most likely accepted by the pack, assuming with wolves was a very dangerous game. Added with the possibility that these majestic animals were being poached, it wasn't impossible that the wolves would react violently to their presence.

"Well, the tale of her nakedness isn't a fable." Ruby chuckled.

Sure enough, sitting above the wolves in a snow covered tree, was a naked girl. She seemed cold but at home in the low hanging branches. The scene was rather domestic.

"She doesn't look to be much of a poacher, does she?" Graham whispered. As if to prove him wrong, the girl suddenly leapt from the branch onto the back of an unsuspecting wolf. Her strong arms wrapped around the creature's neck and she started to try to pry the animal's mouth open.

Ruby's eyes widened. It looked as if the girl was trying to break the wolf's neck. The werewolf and Huntsman didn't take note that the other wolves seemed uninterested in the proceedings or that the young wolf the girl was fighting with was coughing and heaving: trying to dislodge a bird bone from his throat.

When the girl's arm disappeared into the animal's mouth, Ruby leapt to her feet. She charged down the hill.

The animal's all looked startled and leapt to their feet.

Ruby tackled the girl and was surprised when a broken, slobbery bird bone stuck to her cheek. The two had had only brief contact but Ruby had felt an odd spark deep in her chest. "Poacher." She growled.

She approached the girl.

The girl turned and fled. Before Red could give chase, the wolf Ruby had been saving leapt to his feet and sank his teeth into Ruby's cape. The sudden jerk pulled the werewolf off her feet. Stunned, she watched as the entire pack fled in the direction the girl had. She could taste the wolves' hostility and was surprised that they weren't turning on her prone body at the moment.

Graham came after the wolves had disappeared. "I think you stepped on his tail."

Ruby nodded. "I must have." She examined her torn cloak. "What kind of poacher attacks wolves with her hands? A child no less."

Graham shrugged. "The Royal Forest calls to all of society's outcast. What concerns me is that, had you not intervened, that wolf's neck would have been broken."

Ruby listened. "I was hoping they were hunting her down but I can't hear the sounds of a struggle. She must have gone up a tree."

The two tracked the girl for quite a while and were surprised that her feet hadn't simply fallen off yet. After an hour in which the girl's tracks were erratic and nearly untrackable, the two settled down for the night.

The wolves pushed Emma to run harder. She was tired and her feet stung but, should she slow, the pack would bite at her heels to speed her up again. They had smelled the foul intention the attacking human had had towards their strange pup and were forcing her to put as much distance as possible.

Finally, Emma stumbled and collapsed in a snow drift. The alpha female nipped sharply at Emma's thigh but the pup did not move. Another more forceful bite followed. Emma attempted to stand up her legs cramped up and she fell down with a pained cry.

The two alphas snarled and circled restlessly. The rest of the pack whined nervously. Being attacked in their winter woods was an unheard of event. Usually it was just a place to eat and sleep.

A submissive grey wolf crawled over to Emma and draped herself over the shivering girl. When the alpha surveyed them, the she-wolf's tail wagged slowly and sank deeper on the girl.

The alpha male, much older, laid down with a sharp sigh: waiting for their exhausted pup to awake. The younger wolves circled Emma and piled atop of each other. The alpha female, the most physically impressive animal of the pack, turned with other able-bodied members of the pack and started to retrace their steps.

When wolves can no longer run, they must stand and fight.

Ruby heard a twig snap. She sat up quickly and surveyed the woods around them. A deep sniff only revealed the weakening smell of the wolves and a rabbit that was a couple bushes away.

"What's wrong?"

Ruby shook her head and laid back down: tucking her feet into her body and away from the sweltering fire. "I thought I heard something. It's probably nothing."

Graham nodded and continued to stare into the fire. On the outside, he seemed as unbothered as ever. On the inside, he was conflicted. Watching the pack dynamics had confused him. They hadn't reacted to the threat as he would have expected. Sure, they had given chase to the poacher but it appeared that they never attacked.

Once upon a time, Graham could read wolf behavior better then he could speak human languages. He had thought his skill as sharp as ever but, watching those wolves, he realized that it had diminished greatly. It was like hearing a conversation through water. It was a lonely realization.

Seeing the fire starting to burn low, he reached for a log by his foot.

Then the world exploded.

A wolf leapt over the fire. The massive grey wolf's teeth clamped into the log and crushed it into a collection of splinters. The wolf whined as they cut into his mouth but the wolf was deterred. It continued to snap at Graham.

Ruby leapt to her feet to aid him but a wolf appeared behind her and leapt onto her shoulders. The two tumbled to the ground. Dodging fangs, Ruby attempted to convey, through whines and hurried whimpers, that they meant no harm. The wolves didn't pause their attack.

Knocking away the wolves, Graham and Ruby went back to back. They were panting and heaving. Their attackers numbered five and Ruby desperately looked from wolf to wolf to find the alpha.

Setting her eyes on a predominantly white she-wolf with some splotches, Ruby tried to convey that they meant no harm but the wolves seemed to not believe them. They circled the standing pair and let the werewolf try to talk to the alpha. Ruby was afraid if she stopped trying to communicate that they'd all lunge. Without the full moon, there was a very good chance that they'd both be torn apart.

"They are mad we attacked their pup." Graham whispered: jerking backwards as a particularly aggressive male snapped at the tip of his boot. "They are confusing us with that poacher."

Ruby swallowed. She didn't like the look into the alpha female's eyes. It was furious and harm was promised in the gleam of her fangs. "Slowly move backwards." Ruby growled. Together, they took mini-steps backwards towards a mighty tree.

The wolves followed after. When their back hit the base of the tree, the animals lunged. Ruby isn't sure how both she and Graham managed to get into the tree without only minor wounds. She could feel the malicious in the animals. They had lunge with intent to kill. Even as they sat high above the wolves' heads, the animals circled below.

After twenty minutes, the wolves gave up and trotted back the way they had come. The alpha stood below the tree after the others had left and locked eyes with Ruby. Ruby could hear the threat the wolf's body conveyed: _Don't ever come back._

With that, the female disappeared as if she'd never been there.

Graham let out a little laugh. "I'm laughing because I thought we were dead." He continued to chuckle.

Ruby sniffed. "Let's spend the night in the tree. I don't trust them to be really gone."

Graham caught his breathe. "I agree." Staring out into the trees, he added. "We really need to get that poacher. She is scarring these wolves to the point of being man killers." Ruby nodded but still something nagged at her. Something wasn't right but, for the life of her, she didn't know what it was.

When morning came, the pair stiffly climbed down. They were both half convinced that they'd be attacked the second they touched ground but the wolves were truly gone. Ruby sighed when she saw their campsite. Everything that hadn't gone in the tree with them had been torn to shreds and/or peed on.

Ruby glanced into the sky. "It's a full moon tonight. We will go after the poacher." She fingered her robe. "My wolf form will keep the wolves at bay."

"Good."

To occupy their day, the pair slowly tracked the poacher. It was a rather nerve wracking experience as the girl still seemed to be following after the wolves. Maybe the wolves were following after her. It was hard to tell from the tracks.

Every time a rabbit or bird startled, both Red and Graham raced for the nearest tree. Despite their never ending terror, one could not help but admire the Royal Forest. The Queen had forbidden human interaction within the forest and poachers, loggers, and squatters could face heavy penalties if they were caught lurking about.

The trees were an ash black in the winter and the snow had covered every last inch of them. Despite how cold it looked, it was warm for winter. A person could still freeze to death if exposed for too long but it's low elevation made it livable for the wildlife that came down the mountains this time of year.

When night came, Graham was ready to sleep. Ruby, on the other hand, was ready to run. She gave Graham her cloak and stood under the full moon. Her breathe turned heavy and she let out pain moans and groans. He could never figure out if it looked like Ruby was in a sexual situation or being tortured when she changed.

In her wolf form, she was a truly magnificent creature. Much larger than the wolves that had been harassing them and easily stronger than the pack entirely. While werewolves and wolves were quite similar, wolves feared werewolves. Maybe they couldn't handle what they couldn't understand or maybe their fine-tuned instincts could sense the chaos that lived within a werewolf. Despite that, werewolves revered wolves. It was why Regina had taken to protecting any and all wolves that roamed her forest: a sure fire way to win over the loyalty of the werewolves.

Graham walked beside her. The girl's footsteps were becoming fresher but, as they grew nearer to her, they came closer to the wolves.

The wolves were snarling at them from a safe distance. Constantly darting in and out of view. It was clear their bravery from the previous night was gone with the appearance of Ruby's wolf form but their aggressive behavior still ensued.

At one point, Graham even recognized a ploy the alpha male was using. He was limping heavily on his back leg and whining.

Graham looked to Ruby. "I think the poacher has been stealing their pups. The alpha male is trying to lure us away from their young."

Ruby snarled at that. The alpha male continued to limp and whine until it was clear that no one was going to follow after him. He gave an agitated dance and ran off.

Graham picked up the pace. If they were encroaching on the wolves' young just by following the tracks of the poacher than the girl was probably attempting to steal a pup.

The tracks stopped at the edge of a clearing. They simply disappeared as if the girl had vanished herself,

The two stopped to look around. Both were experienced in the ways of the forest and it didn't take them long to find the tracks again. They led to a dead tree lying on its side. Ruby's nose could smell the human and, for a moment, it took her a second to recognize it as a person. This person didn't have a single human scent on them: no smoke, perfume, preservatives, or wool. Her scent seemed to completely blend in with the forest.

Graham lunged into the trunk and grabbed a hold of the naked girl's leg. He drug her out. She kicked and screamed. Her refusal was so violent that Graham lost ahold of her and his thick glove fell off.

The girl dropped to a crouch and let out a terrified cry.

Ruby took a step forward when a wolf leapt over the fallen log. It was vicious she-wolf from the night before. This time; however, she wasn't nearly as mean. The alpha's tail was securely tucked between her legs and she seemed to be shaking in the close proximity of the werewolf.

The wolf put herself between the pair and the shaking girl. The wolf snarled weakly and started pushing the girl away: never taking her eyes off the big wolf. The girl clung to the wolf and started letting out scared whine: burying her face into her pelt.

Graham let out a thoughtful hum. "So we really did attack their pup." He pulled out the cloak and threw it over Ruby. As she shifted back, he approached the alpha and girl. The wolf cowered: still scared of Ruby but unwilling to leave the strange pup unprotected.

Graham put his hand on the anima's curled nose. There was a moment of silence. A moment of understanding that crossed between species. The she-wolf relaxed. She turned her head to nuzzle the scared girl and nosed the girl away from her fur. Pressing their foreheads together, they seemed to be communicating: a conversation that Ruby nor Graham was privy to.

The girl's eyes opened and she looked heartbroken. She grabbed the wolf's fur again but the she-wolf firm nipped at her hands. The wolf began to walk away. Shooting the pair a look, the girl tried to follow after but the animal looked over her shoulder and barred her teeth.

The girl slumped to the snow and whined.

Emma wasn't being abandoned. Many times young wolves had to leave their pack to join another as not to sully the line with inbreeding. Her alpha female recognized a like-minded pack for her strange pup to join and was lovingly kicking her out of the this one.

Emma cried again. Mimicking the sound of a newborn pup, she hoped to change the alpha's mind. She did sense a strange bond with the strangers standing before them. They were human and wolf just like her but that did not mean Emma was ready to leave this pack. Just seeing these human stirred up noisy memories that had long been buried.

Her young brother, though much bigger than when he had first found her, whined from the tree line. He wouldn't come to her: that would be on par with abandoning the pack but he still cried. Separation was never easy.

The pack disappeared.

Emma jumped when something was wrapped around her shoulders. It was a red cloak. The color was so unnaturally bright that Emma had to shield her eyes from it.

The two-legged creatures started making noises to each other. Memories from the people she'd touched started to surface but they were groggy: as if they'd just woken up and Emma struggled to understand more than a few words.

She attempted to pull the cloak off. The male seemed embarrassed, if his flushed cheeks were anything to go by, and the female knocked her hands away and tied the cloak on. The woman's hands were covered in a strange leather material and Emma tried to squirm away.

"Stop…"

Emma recognized the word. She stopped struggling and stared at the woman widely. The woman was different than her. She was much tired and, where Emma was lines and muscle, this girl was softer with round edges. Her hair was straight and not matted and Emma felt the odd need to roll about in the snow to clean herself from the blood and dirt.

Glancing at the man, she realized he was very different from her. His face was shaggy and he adorned an odd metal skin. Emma reached out to press her fingertip to it. The metal was so cold that it seared her fingertip and she pulled it to her chest with an unhappy snarl.

The pair laughed.

"….Feet…Freeze."

Emma scowled as she struggled to recall language. The male nodded and attempted to pick her up. Startled, Emma began to thrash around and let out animal-like screams. She didn't understand why she was being held. She'd never been picked up before and she felt very unsafe with her feet off the ground.

"Alright!" The male exclaimed and put her back on her feet. She shoved him away.

Emma rolled her tongue in her mouth. Finally, she managed a "No". The pair looked surprised by the declaration and stared at her curiously.

They continued to rapidly shoot off the strange sounds at her. Her memories were becoming more vivid but she found herself helpless under the onslaught of words. She rubbed her temple and stared at them dumbfounded.

"..Speak…Understand me?" The female grabbed her chin firmly and spoke to her face. Emma adverted her eyes: remembering this woman could turn into a very large wolf. "Hey." The woman shook her but, before Emma could look at her, her little brother ran into the clearing.

Emma whirled around to face him. In his mouth, he carried a dirty white blanket. His sides heaved and it was clear that he'd been in a hurry to retrieve her only earthly possession and return it to her. He jumped up on her, deposited the blanket into her arms, and licked her face thoroughly. She yelped happily and rubbed her face into his ear. They both knew this would be the last time they'd see each other.

He showed his teeth to the pair standing there before turning to run back to the pack. Emma barked after him until he was out of sight.

"…that?" The woman reached for the blanket and Emma found herself growling at her. The female showed her teeth in response and Emma cowered away in apology. The woman reached again and Emma weakly showed her teeth. With a sigh, the woman simply adjusted the blanket until she could see the name embroidered on the side.

"Emma."

Emma touched her chest. "Name. My."

"Your name." The man repeated. He looked excited and touched his chest. "Graham. My name." He touched the woman's shoulder. "Ruby….name."

Emma touched the scary female's shoulder. "Ruby name." She repeated.

The woman snickered. "No." The female touched her chest. "Ruby." Emma nodded.

"Ruby." She touched the woman's chest. Both the man and woman instantly blushed at Emma's hand placement but said nothing. Emma gave them a weird look and reached over to touch the man's chest. "Ham."

"Graham."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows. "Ham." She repeated.

The woman laughed deeply. The male looked a defeated but nodded. Emma rubbed her temple. The longer she spent in their company, the quieter the wolf memories were and the louder the human memories were becoming. So much noise.

The woman grabbed plucked at her skin and started to walk. Emma followed after. She was led to a small clearing and Ruby and Ham pulled bags from the bushes. Curious, Emma attempted to ruffle through them but was chased off.

Fire was a hard concept for Emma. Some old memories told her that fire was okay but her more prevalent wolf nature panicked. The heat from the fire felt like small bites or an unseen animal licking her. Both Ruby and Ham had to coax her near the fire with small bites of meat. The meat had tasted odd but she'd been able to consume a great amount. The male ate very little but Ruby ate more than any wolf Emma had ever seen.

Sitting with a full belly and feet propped up near the fire, Emma listened to Ruby and Ham talk.

"Well, she isn't a poacher, Graham. We can't publically execute her for being raised by wolves."

Emma mouthed _Graham._

Graham sighed. "Clearly but it is the Queen's decision. Emma did break the law by even being in the forest and eating the deer."

"Raised by wolves." Ruby shot back. "Doesn't that feel even a little bit familiar?"

"Something has been killing those wolves." Graham admitted. "The queen will need to punish someone."

"Kill wolves." Emma repeated with a furrowed brow. "Snow ate them."

"Snow ate the wolves?" Ruby asked. She looked over to Graham to see if he knew what that meant.

Emma made a few frustrated hand gestures. She made a rumbling sound. "Mountain died."

Ruby ran her hands through her hair. "It's like speaking to a child."

Graham mumbled then his eyes lit up. "An avalanche. Did the wolves die in an avalanche." Emma nodded happily though, in all honestly, she wasn't entirely sure why she was nodding. She continued to make rumbling sounds and used her hands to kill the imaginary wolves on the ground.

Regina stared at the pair in front of her. She was rarely disappointed in her Groundskeeper or her favorite werewolf. Yet, they kneeled before her and all she could feel was crushing disappointment. She had told them to return with a naked poacher on parade and, instead, they came back with a fidgeting child.

Regina eyed the child in distain. The child was clothed in a loose tunic and pants but seemed determined to wiggle free of them. Ruby kept breaking her bow to knock the girl's hands away.

The girl didn't seem to know she was in the presence of royalty because she was refusing to bow. She had partially dropped to her knees: obviously mimicking Ruby and Graham but was just squatting and staring at Regina with curious eyes.

"Want to keep those eyes, Girl?" Regina snarled.

The girl curled up her nose and made a few noises. Her finger pointed to her eye. Regina growled into her hand.

"Obviously threatening her is useless." Regina sniffed. "Luckily, I have two more servants who do understand what I'm saying. Ruby, care to explain why this insolent creature is sitting on my throne room floor?"

Ruby looked up. "Emma has been raised by the Royal wolf pack and been living with them for as long as we can tell."

"I had them checked in on last winter." Regina corrected, her stare locked on Graham. "Will my Huntsman explain why a naked girl escaped his notice?"

Graham swallowed harshly. "She was not with the pack last year but, sometimes, a wolf pair will leave the pack to raise it's young. She was most likely raised away from the main pack and joined them this spring."

Regina mused. "I didn't realize wolf raised children were so common." She held her hand out to the feral girl. "Come here, girl."

The girl licked her lips and eyed Ruby.

"She seems to understand some basic human language." Ruby explained. "But she is very slow in responding."

"So she wasn't raised by wolves unless the wolves speak like human and I just didn't know that."

Neither servant had an answer, so they just remained quiet.

True to Ruby's word, the girl was slow to respond. The Queen's command finally seemed to sink in and she slowly approached the throne. Her nose twitched like an animal's. The girl was so light footed that the Queen felt the need to touch the girl to assure herself that it wasn't an apparition in front of her.

Stopping in front of the Queen, the girl reached out and grabbed the flowy part of her dress. Like a child, the girl pulled and flapped the material about in fascination. "Perty."

"It's very pretty." The Queen agreed. "And expensive." The queen put her shoe on the girl's chest and kicked her away. The girl fell flat on her back. Where a normal child would sniffle, the girl broke into a series of yipping laughter. She rolled on her back and looked up at the queen with a wolfish grin.

"Well, I'm officially bored." The Queen announced. "Now what to do with this savage."

Emma, stretching her arms above her head as if she was swimming, was a stark contrast to a savage but no one corrected the queen. She drummed her fingers onto her thigh.

"I don't need another wolf child. Just kill her." The queen pointed to her execution standing off to the side. She found an executioner on hand made the pheasants complain a lot less. The man stepped forward with his massive axe at his side.

Emma instantly perked up and jumped to her feet. She wasn't scared. Emma was more animal than human at this point and didn't have much knowledge of cruelty: for that was only a part of human nature.

Unable to help herself, Emma trotted up to the executioner.

Regina clapped her hands sarcastically. "Look, Executioner, a willing target."

The man raised his axe high. The girl continued to look curiously and without any fear. The executioner swung.

Regina roared in laughter, putting her hand on her stomach, and threw her head back. The girl had simply step-sided the swing. She had been so quick to dodge that the executioner was thrown off balance and stumbled. The girl, in a dog-like fashion, became excited and shoved the man over.

The executioner was more than likely blushing under his black mask as he got back to his feet and tried to advance towards the girl again. Emma pranced: clearly thinking this to be some kind of game. The man raised his axe high over his head and Emma bounced on her feet in preparation to dodge.

"You already had your chance." The queen commanded and waved off the black masked man. She rubbed her stomach and wondered when the last time she'd laughed aloud. Probably the last time a mere girl had made a fool of the Queen's executioner.

"Now, Girl, you've caught me in a rare mood. Come here." Regina held her hand out and was pleased when the girl approached her without an ounce of fear. Regina reached out to grab the girl's hair. It looked as if someone had ripped a comb through it. Still, the girl seemed content to let Regina play with her hair even when Regina did an experimental harsh tug.

"You see, I've been looking for an infant." Regina fisted the girl's hair and was pleased to see signs of submissiveness. "And an infant is on his way here."

"You've found the White Princess?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"I believe so." The queen said with a smug smirk. "A little boy was found abandoned in the woods in which Snow White fled through. I've sent my men to capture one of Snow White's nursemaids to confirm if it is the child or not. I have high hopes."

"Because of that, I'm in a giving mood. So _give_ this girl to the Kingdom's workhouse. She'll be a starving orphan but, at least, she'll get to live." With that Regina sent Graham to deliver the girl to the workhouse.

She noted that her loyal werewolf had seemed sad to see the girl go but knew better than to argue.

The queen didn't bother to think much about the girl as she was sent away. Instead, she waited anxiously for the infant to appear. If this was really Snow White's child, like she thought it was, then she'd finally have the upper hand.

A portly woman hurried in with a baby wrapped up in her arms. Regina leapt to her feet and strode down the throne room in a flurry of her dress. The woman, scared of the imposing monarch, dumped the infant in the Queen's arms and fled out the door.

Having never held a child before, Regina was stunned. The child was heavier than she thought he would be. Awkwardly, with a secret fear of dropping the child, she pulled the blankets from his face. The child was uglier than she thought he'd be and, yet, Regina couldn't help but think he was the most beautiful thing she'd seen in her life.

"I can see a little Charming in you." The Queen mumbled. "Do not worry, little one. I won't hold it against you." The baby opened his eyes. They were a dark soulful brown and Regina had the startling thought _they look just like mine._

The baby, nearly six months old, reached up and attempted to grab at the masterpiece that was her hairstyle. The Queen pulled her head away but not before the boy managed to snap a strand.

"I definitely see Charming in you." Regina corrected.

The baby giggled. Regina had protective spells around her heart and, when that baby giggled, she felt something strike those magical walls. "Aren't you…" She was going to say 'cute' but then her actions caught up to her. Here she was acting like some wet nurse: cooing and losing her spine at the sight a child.

"Guards!"

Guards rushed in and were surprised to suddenly be handed a child. "Find a maid who knows children. He will be treated as if he was a Prince, do you understand?" The guards instantly set off to find such a woman.

Emma didn't like her new home. First of all, she'd been grabbed and hung on by every little child in the workhouse and her animal nature was all but overtaken by the depressing memories of workhouse orphans.

Her ability to communicate had returned but was colored with more vulgar than she could even fully understand.

The workhouse looked to be semi-decent on the outside but, the inside, could only be described as desolate. One would think that a house full of children under the age 15 (for that's when the headmistress kicks out the children) would be full of laughing, crying, and antics but it was completely silent. The infants didn't bother to cry because they'd already learned no one would come and the children were so exhausted from sewing that all they did was eat and sleep.

Emma, being one of the oldest children, was given the most responsibilities and the heaviest lifting. She didn't understand how she was supposed to lift such heavy material and fabric on the small amount of food she was given. Though, she guessed, her meal was quite nutritious if mold was good for a growing girl.

The conditions, work, and number of children, Emma could deal with but the Head Master and the Head Mistress were another matter. The Head Master, a birdlike man who demanded to be called nothing but Head Master, was very professional. He didn't know any of the children's name and simply called them by their unsightly physical traits. Emma was Knobble Knees.

The Head Mistress attempted a friendlier persona. She was a person made of nothing but sharp angles but still insisted on physically handling the children. There wasn't a time when she didn't have a young child on her hip: the child squirming because the bone stabbing into them. She would have been an okay person but she liked to talk about her privileged and loving childhood.

"When I was a child, I wouldn't have had to lift this fabric by myself. Oh no." Head Mistress giggled into his bony hand. "I could have just batted my eyes and the boys would have swarmed about to help. Maybe you should practice?"

Emma glared at the woman before scanning around her. The only boys around were ten and eleven and not the sort of people wanted to be batting her eyes at. She hefted the fabric off her shoulder onto the rickety table.

Seated at the table where grim faced little children.

Head Mistress reached for Emma. Without hesitation, Emma stepped away and showed her teeth. While, she didn't really feel the need to show her teeth, Emma found that the Head Mistress was quite nervous around the wolf raised girl.

"Don't fall for that act." Head Master grunted: his cold eyes surveying the working children to make sure they were going to complete that day's quota. "If she was really feral, she wouldn't have such mastery of human language."

"Nu uh." A little boy said haughtily. He held his sewing needle up as if making a proclamation. "The Queen's men said she was."

"Well, the Queen isn't always right." He said. His turned and pasty white and his eyes started to dart around the building. The windows were boarded up but he still seemed apprehensive that someone was there: bearing witness to his treasonous words against the queen.

The Head Mistress still eyed Emma. "I believe her, Love. I've never seen such atrocious manners in my life."

The Head Master advanced on her. "With animals you got to be stern, My Dear." He grabbed Emma's forearm. Emma slumped her shoulders. She'd already collected the Head Master's memories as he'd once grabbed the back of her neck and marched her to a corner to stand. His life was rather uneventful. He was once crazy in love with a beautiful woman but, seeing as he only stared at the woman as she walked to the store from behind a tree, nothing ever came of it and he began his miserable life.

It didn't give her much sympathy for him. Had he not been a sniveling coward, he might have been happy.

That being said, Emma didn't want the Head Mistress' memories. Falling from high society into a life of poverty were a combination of entitled and disappointing memories Emma didn't want. After all, you are your memories and Emma was collecting a lot of sad ones lately.

Even restrained, The Head Mistress didn't approach Emma. Instead, she threw a skeleton arm around Jacob's shoulder and kissed him on his sweaty temple. The boy looked very uncomfortable but continued sewing the drapes in front of him.

"Off to the attic for your deplorable behavior." The Head Master demanded and shoved her towards the staircase.

Emma sighed. She'd been sent to the attic nearly every day since she'd been dropped off at the work house nearly three weeks ago. At first, the couple had told her that it was a character building exercise and a way to gently ease her into human society. Emma had later found out that she'd been forced to sleep in the attic because the couple was afraid she'd eat the other children in their sleep.

Since then, she was constantly sent up there for punishment. The attic was packed to the top with items that the public had donated to the children. The couple simply boxed them up and put them away.

Being sent to the attic was a harrowing experience. If one could avoid the feeling of being trapped and fear of being crushed to death, then there were the rats to consider. There was a nest living in the walls and, during the night, they crawled through the boxes for nesting materials.

They were brave enough to steal a few nips of skin from unsuspecting, sleeping children.

They left Emma alone though. Maybe it was because she was a light sleeper or maybe, when that first rat bit her and she tore its head off with her teeth, they learned she was not to be trifled with.

Emma sat on the ground and looked through an open box. It was filled with children's books. She'd stolen the memory of a few people who could read. While she didn't get the appeal of looking a page of motionless words, she found it to be a nice escape from the inactivity that was the daytime attic.

 _Undaunted by the looming dragon, the Prince rode on. The beast was undefeated but the Prince knew that his love for the fair maiden in which the dragon guarded could defeat anything._

Emma curled her nose up at that statement. She flipped a few pages to see if the book would get any better.

 _The Princess bestowed a kiss upon her savior's cheek: a blush appeared innocently on her pale cheek. Placing her dainty hand in his, he dropped to his knee and spoke words of his undying devotion._

" _Never have I, in the lands I've traveled and maidens I've met, laid gaze upon a beauty comparable to yours. I have slayed the beast that slumbered outside your door with my devotion as my sword and my loyalty as my armor. Against this, the beast had no choice but to fall…_

Emma tossed the book into the already large pile of discarded books. She found it hard to fall into the trap that was the glittering love between a Prince and Princess. True love, it seemed, did not suit her fancy.

She heard the sound of clattering hooves. Squeezing through boxes, she peered out the dirt, circular window. She could see the Queen's men loitering outside. Scanning through the faces, she was disappointed not to recognize Graham: seeing as she'd grown rather attached to the gentle natured man.

As she watched, the Head Master walked from the workhouse to converse with the men. Some words seemed to be exchanged. The knights seemed uninterested but Emma could see that the Head Master was growing quite agitated.

One of the knights shoved the Head Master down onto the ground. The Head Mistress rushed towards her fallen husband: her flowy skirts gathered in her hands. Before she could get to her husband, a knight thrusted a tiny bundle into her arms. Emma pressed her face into the glass to see if she could see what it was but all she managed to do was get dust and grim on her face.

Rubbing it on her arm, she peered again. The Head Master locked eyes with her. He scowled with such anger that Emma pushed away from the window and sat on the ground.

Moments later she could hear the sound of feet thundering up the stairs. She cowered. She knew that physical abuse wasn't common in the workhouse as neither Master or Mistress were physically strong enough to cause any damage, Emma still feared her reaction to being hit.

Would she be a dragon and rip the man's chest plate from his body, would she be a wolf and sink her teeth into his throat, or would she be a sniveling child?

The Head Master threw the door open. In his hands, he held a wiggling baby boy.

"Another palace rat for us to feed." The Head Master said haughtily. He handed over the lively child. As he left, he ranted angrily. "If he's not the _right_ child, she should have just done away with him." He closed the door firmly behind him.

Emma stared widely at the child in her lap. He had dark brown hair and a headful of brown hair. He looked to be about seven months old and a very bright eyed child. He stared up at Emma with wide eyes and, with a delighted squeal, he leaned forward to latch onto her arm and suckle.

Used to the wolf pups, Emma pushed the baby off her lap. Where a wolf pup would not have been phased, the baby hit with a thud. His brown eyes widened in disbelief, his face turned red, and he began to let out a scared and pained cry.

Startled, Emma scooped up the baby in her arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Emma instantly apologized and attempted to desperately quiet the upset child. She rubbed his head, nosed his teary-stained cheek, and bounced him about.

The little boy grabbed her shirt in his hand and continued to cry. Emma settled back and started to whistle the song of a Bushbird. Their song was light and happy. As Emma whistled it, the baby finally started to calm down. His crying softened but he didn't release his grip on Emma. He just burrowed closer to her and suckled on his fist.

Emma pulled him away and checked him for obvious injuries. She'd forgotten that humans were breakable compared to wolves.

The baby's hands started waving around and grabbing whatever was within reach. Her clothes were being pulled, her lip pinched, and her hair yanked. Emma found herself giggling. It felt good to laugh. Maybe she was receiving happy memories from the child or maybe the child just made her happy.

Nibbling on the child's cheek, the little boy shrieked happily and grabbed her nose. His grip was surprisingly strong.

"Come on, let go." Emma encouraged by the baby simply tightened his grip on her nose with a serious expression. If Emma didn't know better, she could swear she was being reprimanded by the young child.

Emma cared for the young child until he began crying in hunger. Emma hadn't been told to come down but she would brave the Head Master's anger if it meant the child would stop crying.

By the time she'd reached the Head Mistress, the woman was holding a bowl of mashed pears and a clear, silver spoon. "Give him here." She demanded. "When I was a Lady, I didn't have to feed the children. We have a maid to do that for us."

As soon as Emma handed over the child, the boy started to scream. He began to twist and thrash his body so much that the Head Mistress dropped the bowl of pears in favor of clutching onto the child before she dropped him. The baby continued to scream.

The Head Master stormed in. "I'm hard of hearing. Not deaf. Stop the insufferable noise!" He pointed a sharp finger at the child but he continued to cry.

"I'm sorry, Love." The Head Mistress apologized. "This is the youngest child we've had by far. I'm at loss."

The Head Master plucked the child from her arms and held the crying baby in the air. The baby kicked and screamed. With a scowl, the Head Master deposited the baby in Emma's arms. He instantly quieted and pulled himself closer into her arms.

The Head Master watched with narrow eyes. "Palace rats." He sneered. He reached down for the bowl of pears and, scooping the fallen pears off the ground, he pushed them into Emma's hands. "Feed the child." He demanded.

Emma nodded and watched as he turned away and strode out the door. Emma turned to go bring the child back up to the attic but, before she realized what happened, a bony hand grabbed her wrist.

Her brain was infiltrated.

The Head Mistress, Ophlia Dungenun, had been born a beggar's daughter. Birthed in a cold alley and grew up with her hand out, so people could put money into it. She'd been taken from her mother a few times: brought to workhouses, orphanages, and even adopted into a well-off family but, after the maid waved off her concerns about her overly affectionate new father figure, she would escape and return to her old mother on the streets.

It was there that the Head Master had found her. He'd offered her a big house, gaggle of children, and a position of power. She'd excepted right there on the street and, just like that, she found herself in a loveless marriage, with dirty and ungrateful children, the head of one of the cruelest workhouses in the kingdom, and living in an abandoned street.

The Head Mistress pulled her hand away with a sharp inhale. Emma froze, afraid that the woman had realized what had happened.

"What did you say?" The Head Mistress demanded quietly.

Emma racked her brain for an answer. She hadn't been aware that she'd said anything. "What did you say?!" The baby whimpered and the woman let go of Emma's hands.

"You said 'Think away the cold, Ophila. Have a mind over the monsters." The Head Mistress ran her shaky hands through her hair. "Who told you that! My mother was dead before you were born!" Her eyes were wild. "I never had to deal with the dead body, you see. We had a maid for that."

Emma bolted up the stairs from the mentally unraveling woman. The baby was making grabs for the pears and, when Emma finally handed them over, he began to shove the pears into his much smaller mouth. Mashed pears fell onto his surprisingly clean white shirt and onto Emma's dirty one.

"Easy." Emma encouraged softly. "I don't want you to get a stomach ache."

The baby didn't listen and ate until he was full. He buried his little face into Emma's chest and began to slumber. Emma whistled the song of the Bushbird: hoping it would help her sleep.

Regina scowled at the Lord in front of her. He had been under the impression that his horseback riding skills would be enough to warrant such an interruption into her study. Maybe he thought the fearless display would impress the Queen. He was very wrong.

Despite being bloodthirsty, the Queen did have an obligation to her people _which_ she had been seeing to when this fool had burst into her study. Behind him, Red staggered after. It looked as if the Lord had thrown silver shavings at her wolf if the hives and wheezing where anything to go by.

"Sorry, My Queen." Red heaved. "He got by me."

"I have a message." The man replied haughtily. Regina slumped in her seat. When she thought the man might by courting her, the situation had been more interesting.

"Do tell what message is important enough to poison a member of my guard for doing her job?" Eyeing the barely conscious wolf, she added "Albeit, not very well."

The Lord straightened his shoulders. "I have come bearing the message of your defeat. Snow White rides tonight with victory upon her shoulders. Your reign has ended!"

At the mention of Snow White, the woman sat up straight. "I beg your pardon? Do you wish to repeat yourself?"

The Lord let out a laugh. "You heard me, Witch."

The Queen snapped her fingers and Red, though staggering, restrained the man with her inhuman strength. The Lord didn't struggle and only watched as Regina circled the desk. From a purple mist, Regina pulled a sharp and cruel looking dagger. The Lord remained impassive at its appearance.

"Lord Howl, is it? You seem to have gotten very brave since we last met." She waved the dagger almost seductively in front of his face. "This new look does not suit you." Pressing the dagger into his chest: above his heart, she demanded, "Tell me what you know of Snow White!"

The Lord smirked. "All I know is that you are alone." Regina's eyes flashed purple and she lunged for the man.

The man elbowed Red away as if she was a fly. It sent the werewolf flying into the nearest wall. Regina made a swipe with the dagger.

A giggle filled the air. Regina's shoulders slumped as she stared at the Lord in front of her. His image dissolved until it was the Legendary Rumpelstiltskin standing before her. He laughed in glee and clapped his hands.

"There!" He pointed a finger at Regina. "That's the blood thirst that makes you my favorite student."

"Only student." Regina snapped. She tossed her dagger off to the side and slumped back into her chair. She should have known it was her magic teacher the second he came in. If something was amiss, usually Rumpelstiltskin was behind it.

"That you are." The crocodile skinned man said with a nod. "But I have a reason for my visit, Dearie. I didn't just come by to…chat."

"Do enlighten me." Regina said.

Red began to struggle to breathe. A combination of the silver shavings into her lungs and the impact with the wall had all but stolen her breath. Regina, barely giving her dying servant a second glance, sent a quick spell her way which cleared her airway and shoved her promptly out the door.

"It is so hard to find good help these days." Rumpelstiltskin giggled.

"Out with it." Regina sighed.

"I just wanted to make sure you hadn't lost your edge, Dearie." Rumplestiltskin jumped into the air and reappeared sitting on the corner of her desk. "You see, I was in the middle of gruesome Dark Ones acts, you wouldn't understand, when I get news that my _favorite_ pupil has been sneaking about her own castle, so she can coo at some orphan child."

Regina stiffened at the mention of the little baby. "I'll have you know that your test was unneeded. Once the boy proved not to be Snow White's lost child, I had him taken to the workhouse."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed loud and clear. "Finally figured out it was a girl they lost, did you?" He then jumped to her feet and made a show of dusting off his clothes. "Then my visit was a waste! After all, you must know by now that, while you have me, you don't need some orphan suckling his wittle thumb."

Like that, her mentor was gone.

"Witch!"

Emma jolted up. Her first instinct was to grab the child but, as her hands searched about, she realized she didn't have him anymore. A quick glance showed that the little boy had crawled over to the open box and was banging on the discarded books. He was watching the proceedings curiously but, as the quivering of his lip showed, he would not watch quietly from much longer.

Another bucket of water was thrown over Emma.

"Witch, I should have known!" The Head Mistress hollered. "Be gone! Melt. Melt. Melt." The Head Mistress shook the bucket over her head to make sure all the water fell over Emma but the girl did not melt. She simply stared up at the Head Mistress with fright. She'd never seen someone acting so erratically.

The Head Mistress took pause at the face Emma hadn't melted. It was clear that she hadn't thought out a backup plan incase Emma didn't perish from water.

Staring at the bucket, the Head Mistress threw the bucket with all her might at Emma and then fled down the stairs. The bucket bounced off her thigh and rolled away. Sure, it stung but Emma had lived with wolves. A bucket thrown by a frail old lady was hardly something to bat an eye at.

The baby finally cried: having been startled by the loud clanking sound of the bucket.

The Head Mistress burst back in: obviously having been hiding right outside the door. "Leave the babe alone, you Witch!" The Head Mistress scooped up the child and took flight down the stairs. The baby instantly began to scream.

Maybe it was because Emma had developed a bond with the little child or, maybe, the wolf in her couldn't resist a chase but Emma took off after the Head Mistress.

"Mercy be! Save me!" The Head Mistress cried as she ran through the workhouse like a woman on fire. The Head Mistress darted from room to room as if attempting to throw Emma off her trail but Emma jogged after.

The other children peered from the doorways and, for the first time in years, the workhouse was filled with laughter. How they laughed as the Head Mistress continued to scream for protection from deities and run from a small statured blonde girl.

"Harold! HAROLD!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" The Head Master came running into the room: eyes wide as he took in his wife's panicked state, the children fall over themselves in laughter, and a guilty faced Emma.

Emma tried to looked casual but the Head Master saw through her and instantly grabbed her shoulder.

"She is a witch, Harold." The Head Mistress exclaimed. "She was going to sacrifice the baby for a spell."

"I was not!"

"So you are a witch." The Head Master explained. "I didn't hear you denying that one."

"I am not!"

"Can't say I'm surprised." The Head Master gruffed. "You've been nothing but a terror since you've arrived."

"Kill her." The Head Mistress urged. Everyone stopped laughing then. The children grew still and silent and watched with apprehensive eyes. The Head Master's jaw gaped open and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

"Don't you ever say that again!" He whispered. "Do you know what the Queen would do if she found out we even thought about killing a witch, let alone did?!" He dropped his hold on Emma's shoulder and grabbed her forearm in a painfully tight grip.

"Now you listen here, Witch." He growled. "We aren't going to harm a single hair on your head but you will behave yourself. There will not be another instance like this one or we'll ship you off to the White Kingdom where they burn witches! Do you understand?"

Emma didn't mean to do it. All she could focus on was the unbearable pain that the man's surprisingly grip was wreaking on her forearm. All she could think about was the entire workhouse's eyes on her and all she could hear was the baby's screaming. And it happened.

The man's hand suddenly began to steam. He screamed in agony: pulling his burned hand from her forearm. Everyone stared at the burned appendage while Emma gaped at her forearm. It had just burned a man's hand but it looked completely normal. Just a regular old forearm.

Emma slowly raised her eyes to meet the Head Masters. Oops.

She was kicked out of the workhouse. The Head Master hadn't given her a chance to apologize or even gather her bearings when she was forced out the front door. She tumbled off the porch and the door slammed behind her.

Emma remained on her knees. She glanced down the street. Some of the Kingdom's inhabitants were staring but, the second she looked at them, they glanced away and pretended to be busy. Well, now what?

She brushed some of the cobblestone from her knees and started wandering. She figured if she circled around enough, she'd find a way to return to the Royal Forest. She bet the pack would take her back and away from all this inhumane humanity that surrounded her.

Realizing she had absolutely no idea where she was, she simply continued to walk. It was still morning when she started wandering but it didn't take long for the sky to darken once again. Time really moved fast for people without a lot of options.

The only kindness that she'd been shown that whole day was by a young boy. He must have been the baker's boy because, when Emma passed the bakery and clutched her stomach at the inviting smell of warm bread, the boy had darted from the store to thrust a roll into her arms. At the sound of the baker yelling, the boy ran back into the store and Emma ran down the street.

She found a little corner between the grocer and the post office and settled down. The air was cold but, having lived among wolves, Emma had a few tricks to keep herself warm.

She rubbed her hands together. If she was really a witch, she thought in distain, she would be able to start a fire. She rubbed her forearm but nothing happened. She closed her eyes and pictured the wolf pack but, when she opened them, she was still sitting in the desolate corner. Maybe they had been wrong. Maybe she wasn't a witch and what had happened was just a freak accident.

As she lamented her fate, she didn't realize that she was rubbing her hands together faster and faster. Then her hands sparked. It was almost like a little bolt of lightning wrapped itself between her fingers before darting off into the cold.

Emma hissed: the lightening having left scorch marks on her palms.

"I've seen people blow off their fingers doing that. But look at you! All fingers intact!"

Emma leapt to her feet. Standing beside her, appearing as if from thin air, stood a man. He had scales, long hair, and inhumane eyes. His voice was high pitched and sounded like a child's.

"Who…" Emma bared her teeth. "What do you want?"

"Ohooo!" The man said gleefully. "Look at that aggression. I could make something out of you, just you watch!"

Aware of men and their offers, she eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

"Magic, Dearie." The man explained. From his open palm, a glass swan appeared. It was so perfect that it couldn't be natural: each edge glittery so seductively that Emma found her eyes inexplicitly drawn to it. "You have it and so do I."

He tossed her the swan. She attempted to catch it before it hit the ground but, as she caught it, it disappeared into a puddle of water.

The magic man laughed. "The name is Rumpelstiltskin." He bowed mockingly. "And I have a deal for you!" Tossing her a contract, Emma eyed it. "I'll be your mentor, give you housing, and some food in your belly!"

"For what price?" Rumpelstiltskin acted surprised to hear such a question from the young girl.

"No price of concern." The scaly man said brightly. "Nothing you'll miss. In fact, I'm sure that little pesky ability with memories is something you're just dying to get rid of."

Emma read over the contract. Sitting in the cold without a home sure made the worst deals sound amazing. Emma eyed the green skinned man. She didn't trust him but she knew him from Maleficent's memories and knew that he never skipped out on a deal.

She signed the contract.

Regina sighed into the side of her horse's mighty cheek. After a long day's ride, the chocolate color horse was covered in foamy sweat. She was the Queen and had stable hands to care for her large collection of steeds but she preferred to do all the care for this particular horse.

Dember was the vilest horse in the stable which was the sign of a truly great war horse: the desire to trample people under his powerful hooves. Unfortunately, that violence did extend to the help.

Regina had a unique bond with the horse. He had tried to stomp on her and she'd threw a fireball at his head. From that point on, the two had a strange respect for one another. They didn't like each other but understood that an uneasy alliance was in place.

Offering the majestic animal an apple, Regina bid him goodbye. She always seemed to be saying goodbye, she lamented. The servants all dropped to their knees as she exited the stall and waited until she was gone before they stood up. Regina lived in a sea of downturned faces. She could barely remember what making eye contact felt like.

A young boy started to raise his eyes but Regina let her magic thrum in a warning. The boy lowered his head once again.

"Scary, scary."

"Twice in a day. I'm feeling flattered." Regina peered around for her mentor and found him sitting against a tree and examining a glass swan. His fingers were touching it reverently. "A swan?"

"More like…a puzzle piece." Tossing the swan up, he laughed. "Now I've completed the face!"

Ignoring her mentor's crazy ramble, Regina waited impatiently. Rumpelstiltskin didn't show up unless he needed to teach her something or something from her. Seeing her staring at him, he began to stretch his legs about and poise.

"Like what you see, Dearie?" Raising a foot into the air, he swung it about. "Commit it to memory cause I'm going to be gone for a while. You see, I've brought home a stray."

"You? A pet?" Regina mocked. "Give the dog my condolences."

"Ahhh a girl."

"Rumpel…"

"A magic wielder. A white witch, if you shall." He interrupted her harsh glare. "A quite powerful one at that. I've decided to pluck her from the nest and take her under my wing, so to say."

"You've taken another student?" Regina's voice was low. She held no warm feelings for her mentor but did not fancy sharing him with some harlot with powers. "I thought you said I was your only student."

"You were." Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "Now you're not. Tada!"

Regina stared at the place where he had been just standing. Anger boiled under her skin. If the object in front of her was none other than her beloved apple tree, it would have been destroyed in her rage, Instead, she placed her hand against the bark of the tree.

Her grandfather had planted that tree in the Dark Kingdom as some life lesson for her father. Regina had long forgotten the particulars of the lesson but she knew it meant a lot to her father. During her entire miserable reign as Leopold's wife, her father would spend hours under that apple tree. He watered it, stroked the bark, and would even read to it.

Regina attempted to get the same sense of peace that her father got from the tree. "Daddy, please."

She didn't know what she was begging for. All she knew was that, ever since his passing, she'd had this hole in her that she couldn't fill. Magic lessons had been a nice distraction but she knew they would no longer offer that solace.

Her fingers touching the bark, Regina heard a sudden cry split the darkening sky. Regina pushed off the tree and looked around the tree. Unbeknownst to Regina, a chamber maid was walking the grounds. In her hands was a bundle.

The chambermaid instantly quieted her child with a fond smile. "Hush, my girl." The woman whispered. "Royals are asleep." The woman bounced the child in her arms and leaned down to kiss the child's forehead.

Regina watched them walk off. She turned to the apple tree. "Thank you, Daddy." As she stroked the tree lovingly, she mused. "Henry. I'll name him Henry."

Regina smiled. She was sure the workhouse would be more than happy to have one less, infant mouth to feed.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, this chapter is going to be a little different: a little less realistic. (Yes, I am aware that the previous two chapters is about dragons, spells, and magical realm).**

Emma grew increasingly frustrated. She propped her feet up against the table and leaned back in her seat. The house that Rumpelstiltskin had given her was a small cabin in which she lived. It was stashed away in a section for the Dark Kingdom that was inhabited.

Rumpelstiltskin had stolen her ability to take memories of anyone she touched and Emma didn't realize what a curse that had been until it was gone. Without it, Emma was finally able to cultivate her own personality and make her own memories. She'd always have the memories she'd already stolen but they were constantly being buried by her own.

The contract she'd signed with her mentor had brought nothing but good things except for one thing: Emma was unable to use the dark magic that Rumpelstiltskin demanded of her.

She'd been in this cabin for nearly two seasons now and, while she'd grown a certain amount of control over her white magic, she'd yet to produce any dark magic beside an occasional spark.

"I'm waiting." Rumpelstiltskin said with a mock yawn and stretch.

Attempting to channel her frustrated and hateful thoughts into something physical, Emma turned her palm to the defenseless fruit. From her palm burst white magic: it's edges dimmed with her ill-tempered mood but light magic all the same. The lemon burst apart but neither party celebrated.

"I'm disappointed." Rumpelstiltskin said blankly. "Again. It seems I've been wasting my time with the wrong student."

A shamed blush gracing her cheeks, Emma snapped. "Why not let me use white magic? I'm good at that!"

Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "We've been over this dearie. White magic is all good and well for saving stranded kittens in trees but, for dark and dastardly deeds, it falls a little…short. Doesn't really have the taste for blood. Now!" Rumpelstiltskin grabbed another fresh lemon from the bowl and tossed it to Emma. "I'll be back tomorrow. If you can use an itsy bitsy amount of dark magic to murder the lemon, we…will resort to other methods." He giggled.

He usually poofed away. That's what her mentor was known for but, whatever this other method was, made him so excited that he actually pranced out the front door. Emma watched him go. If he wasn't the Dark One, Emma doubted that anyone would actually be scared of him.

Emma rolled the lemon in her palm. Her mind throbbed. It did that after using magic for a prolonged amount of time. Deciding to rest and try again later, Emma pulled herself to her modest little bed and collapsed in it.

It wasn't cold but she rolled herself up in a blanket anyway. It was never her _Emma_ blanket though. She didn't understand the importance of it. She was pretty sure Emma wasn't even her given name as she had a vivid memory of ripping the blanket from raven haired woman's hands. Still though, she'd had it for as long as she could remember and she was oddly attached to it.

Lying there, she let herself enjoy the sounds of nature.

Hearing a knocking at her window, she cracked open an eye to see a woodpecker perched on the window. Seeing that it had Emma's attention, it began to peck with wild abandon. Emma laughed. "Hold on, hold on."

Flinging open the window, the bird hopped in.

Animals were terrified of Rumpelstiltskin. If he was in the area, all the animals went into hiding and the woods were deathly silent. Animals loved Emma. It was a glaring reminder that Emma was filled with white magic which, apparently, drew animals in like honey. God forbid she ever start singing or every animal in the forest would gallivant into her humble home. Emma had learned that the hard way.

The woodpecker hopped about and pecked at every wood surface he could. This woodpecker seemed to be her most loyal animal friend. If Rumpelstiltskin wasn't here, the bird was pecking something in her home.

He seemed rather fond of the table. Emma loved his companionship. The only downside to his constant presence was he didn't seem to understand sleep. Anytime Emma would doze off with the animal in the room, she'd be awoken to panicked pecks on her face or arms. Seeing that she wasn't dead, the animal would go on his merry way.

Enjoying the sound of pecking and nature, Emma frowned when it turned to angry screeching. Emma peaked an eye open and, sure enough, a deer had poked his mighty head through the window: catching his antlers on the window seal and was attempting to nibble on the lemon.

The lemon was rolling on the desk and the buck was chasing it around. The woodpecker landed on the desk and was hopping after the buck with angry squawks. As the two squabbled, Emma decided that she would no longer rest in the bedroom and moved out to the living room.

To the sound of animals fighting, Emma dozed off.

The sound of giggling woke her up. She jerked up. It was still dark outside but Rumpelstiltskin was sitting on her table. "Rise and shine, Dearie."

"Wha…" Sitting up, Emma glared at him. "You're early." She accused.

"No. I said I'd be back tomorrow."

"It's still night."

"Early morning." Rumpelstiltskin corrected. "Therefore: it's tomorrow. Now…" A lemon appeared in Emma's hand, "Can you destroy this lemon with dark magic?" The slump of Emma's shoulders was the answer.

Emma wasn't stupid. She knew that Rumpelstiltskin didn't want her to succeed. If he did, he would have showed up in the evening so she would have had adequate time to practice. Instead, he had showed up as soon as it was technically the next day, so he could be sure she couldn't.

"Good!" Rumpelstiltskin grabbed her arm and they disappeared into a cloud of black magic. The trip was quick but Emma thrashed about. The black magic and her white magic irritated each other in such close presence and it caused the mentor and student to squirm uncomfortably.

Landing in a clearing, Rumpelstiltskin flicked some white magic off his shoulder. He glared at his student but Emma was too busy brushing off lingering black magic from her clothes to notice.

"Where are we?"

"Not the right question to ask." Rumpelstiltskin corrected his student. "The right question is "Why are we here?". I'm happy that you asked."

"I didn't ask."

Rumpelstiltskin whirled to face her. He plunged his hand into her chest. Emma gasped. The feeling of intrusion was overwhelming. Her mentor attempted to pull her hand back with Emma's heart in his palm.

Her white magic shoved his hand from her chest: emptyhanded.

He scowled at her. Emma just clutched her chest and waited for her thrumming heart to calm down. With a sigh, he plunged his own hand into his chest to clutch his heart. Ripping it free, he showed it to Emma.

Emma stared wide eyed. Like she had imagined, the heart was black. But, right at the tip, there was a small blotch of red. Apparently the Dark one had just a smidge of good in him yet.

Emma reached to touch but the Dark One slapped her hand away.

"A heart is the root of all good and center of corruption." He stroked his heart lovingly. "Of all its quirks, this one is my favorite." He started to squeeze his heart. The heart cracked a little: threatening to break. Rumpelstiltskin's face contracted in pain and his legs shook in the effort to keep from collapsing.

Right when the heart was about to break, he said "That's enough of that" and placed it back into his chest. He was unaffected. Standing there as if he just hadn't almost killed himself.

"Did you see how I did that?" Without waiting for a nod, he finished. "Good. Now…your turn." Emma frowned and placed her palm on her heart. "Not yours. There is nothing evil about taking your own heart. Take her heart."

A white doe trotted into clearing. It had gentle blue eyes. The doe eyed Rumpelstiltskin suspiciously and went over to graze by Emma. She dropped her head and began to nibble on the grass mere inches from Emma's foot.

"This is a white doe. The purest animal in all the realms. I want you to rip her heart out and crush it."

Emma approached the animal. She reached out and traced her fingers over the animals shoulders and back. The doe raised her head to the side of her face against Emma's hip before continuing to eat.

Placing her hands on the doe's chest, Emma pushed. For a split second, her fingers disappeared into the animal's chest. Startled by the intensity of the heat, Emma jerked her hand back: fully expecting her fingers to be burned. The doe raised her head and looked at Emma curiously.

Emma breathed.

She lunged her hand forward.

Her mentor sighed as his apprentice slapped the animal's backside: a loud command for the animal to flee before it could be sacrificed. The animal bound away with a snort and Emma awaited her punishment.

"As I thought, you fear the darkness! You can't fear it and still expect it to serve you. You have to be of the same mind: the same desire!"

"I can't have that desire." Emma stopped her foot in the beginning stages of a temper tantrum. "I'm just not broken enough to be…" Emma struggled for the right word and settled for gesturing at Rumpelstiltskin himself.

"I'm so happy you said that." Her mentor giggled. "Saves me from explaining why I'm doing this."

"Doing what?"

She never got an answer. Rumpelstiltskin conjured his Dark One Dagger. Emma fidgeted and adverted her eyes. If there was anything that her mentor valued, it was this dagger. Just being in its presence offended her white magic and she had to fight the urge to flee from it.

"Time to meet the darkness, Dearie." He grabbed the hilt reverently and, in one smooth, practice motion, drug the tip of the dagger across Emma's throat. She dropped to the ground: eyes staring blankly up to the sky.

"Hello?"

Emma stirred. Her head pounded and, as she struggled to sit up, she found herself attempting to separate reality from fiction. She remembered being with her mentor and, now, she found herself lying on a beach made of obsidian sand with a green ocean crashing and waving next to her.

"Am I dead?" Emma asked: she touched herself and was in awe to find herself wearing a white tunic with tight pants. She briefly entertained the idea that she looked like a pirate before realizing that she was sitting at the hooves of a giant beast.

Astride the beast, sat a beautiful young woman. She was Emma's age with soulful brown eyes, brown hair, and a scar on her lip.

"Well, you aren't dead." The girl swung off the horse with grace that made Emma tingle with envy. "You might wish you were though. You" the girl drug Emma to her feet, "Are on the Dark Side of Neverland."

Furrowing her forehead, Emma just looked confused.

"I hate explaining this." The girl complained. "Neverland is a combination of all the dreams that child have: a gilded cage meant to offer everything and anything so the child will never want to grow up. _This_ is where are those bad dreams go."

Emma eyed the girl. "You don't look like a bad dream."

Emma was surprised to see a surprised blush streak the cheeks of the girl. The girl touched her cheeks. "I believe my mother would call you 'silvered tongued'." Shrugging away her bashfulness, the woman fully face Emma. "My name is Regina."

Emma hastily shoved her hand into Regina's. "Emma. It's my name. Emma."

Regina laughed: it was a loud and clear laugh. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Emma but, I'm afraid, I must be off." Regina swung onto the horse and prepared to gallop off.

"Wait, wait, wait." Emma grabbed her boot. "How do you leave this place?"

Regina laughed. "If you ever figure it out, let me know." Regina then surveyed Emma. Dember, a mean spirited war horse, swung his head into Emma's chest and demanded that the blonde pay attention to him. "But, why you figure it out, would you like to come with me? I'm afraid you are the first living person besides Dember here that I've seen in weeks."

Emma nodded sharply. If she was just going to be wandering around while she figured out what Rumpelstiltskin was thinking, she might as well have some company.

"Grand." Regina's smile was blinding. She reached down, grabbed Emma's forearm, and helped her swing behind her. As soon as Emma was on, Regina's smile turned wicked. Emma didn't see the change. She didn't see the gentle and light heartedness drain from Regina's expression and morph into something dark. All she knew was that, one moment she was sitting on the horse, and the next, she was on the ground.

Emma stared up dazed. She had felt Regina kick the horse's side savagely and, if Emma didn't know better, she could swear that Regina had done that on purpose.

"I am so sorry." Regina swung off quickly: the darkness was gone from her features. "Dember does stuff like that. He is…"

"It's fine." Emma pushed herself up and brushed herself off.

"I really am sorry." Regina repeated. Emma stared at her. She'd always been well versed in sensing lies and felt that Regina was being truthful.

The two set off again. This time Emma rode in front. Regina pretended it was because she preferred to sit in the back but, they both knew, that Regina didn't rust Emma's ability to stay on the animal.

As they rode, they became fast friends. Regina was warm with a sense of humor that Emma had never encountered before. It was addictive.

When Regina had learned that Emma didn't really remember anything before she was 13, Regina had attempted to be sincere in her apologies. When Emma saw through it, Regina admitted that her childhood had not been very good and she wished she could just forget it. Emma learned that Regina was technically a princess but, before her father Henry could assume his thrown, their kingdom had been dismantled by invading kingdoms.

Her mother had gotten a taste of the good life and had been training Regina as a vessel to return to that life of privilege.

"Then I met Daniel." Regina said: a scattered blush on her cheeks. "He is just a stable hand but…"

"You love him." Emma finished.

Regina nodded. "So much. My mother wishes me to marry an elderly king. She sent men to take Daniel in the dead of night and throw him on a troll bridge: stranded in the middle for, if he ventured to close to the railings or the ends, the troll would leap out and devour him." Her voice growled and her body shifted. Emma caught a taste of magic but it was quickly gone. "I am going to save him."

"I'll help." Emma offered. "I'm not a master with weapons but I'm a fantastic piece of bait."

Regina laughed at that. In fact, she laughed so hard that she started beating her hands on Dember's neck. The warhorse stopped walking. At first, he was tolerant of Regina's pounding hands but, as she increased pressure, the horse started snorting.

"Stop." Emma grabbed at Regina's hands. Emma forcefully trapped Regina's arms under hers and waited until Regina's laughter stopped. "Are you okay?'

Emma eyed Regina. Her mentor was the Dark One and she could sense darkness. At first, Emma hadn't noticed it. Maybe she was distracted by the girl's low voice or the beautiful face but, staring at the watering eyes and wide grin, Emma could nearly taste it now.

Regina shook her head. "I'm fine. You are a funny one, Emma."

They continued on. The good mood of the journey had been broken and, try as Regina might, it couldn't be salvaged. Emma simply found herself sad. She'd seen dark beings who had once been light but she'd never seen the transition. She could feel the dark inside Regina slowly crawling through her body like some invading parasite and Emma felt for her new friend.

Coming over a ridge, the two set eyes on a mighty bridge. The bridge was the barely smaller than the looming trees. Below it was a river that was encased in a shroud of black: dark enough to hide a giant troll with ease. The far end of the bridge disappeared into a cloud of fog.

"There is it!" Regina exclaimed. "Look! There is Daniel!"

Cowering in the middle of the bridge: equal distance from both ends and sides of the bridge, was a man. He seemed rather handsome but Emma had expected something more. Maybe she was influenced by the gorgeous prince in those books she used to read at the workhouse but, like the books, she was disappointed in this love story too.

Pushing Dember into a run, Emma could barely hang on.

Daniel, seeing the horse and riders charging towards him, he jumped to his feet. "No Regina! Stay back!" He took a few steps towards her and, from the railing to his right, a large, boiled cover hand emerged and attempted to grab him.

Daniel tried to jump away and leapt right into the grasp of the other hand. Daniel kicked and struggled. From the dark cloud below, a troll began to appear. He climbed the side of the bridge like a chimp and stared hungrily at the man in his hands: relieved to finally have caught to elusive human.

Regina pulled Dember to a stop and quickly shoved Emma off. It wasn't a harsh shove but Emma still found herself wincing at the stinging in her hands and knees.

"Regina!" Emma leapt to her feet and watched as Dember and Regina raced towards the captive Daniel.

"What does she think she is going to…ohhh, she can do that."

In one of Regina's hands, a giant fireball began to form. It was easily larger than the rider and steed combined. It was completely controlled in Regina's palm and didn't seem to cause any harm to the horse and rider despite the immense heat: so hot that the air around it was distorted.

Throwing her hand out, the fireball charged into the troll's chest. At first, it didn't appear to do any damage: it simply sizzled away. The troll let out a howling laugh, using the hand holding Daniel to check for damage on his rock-like chest and stomach. He roared at Regina, an arrogant sound, that quickly died down as he realized that a fire had appeared on his chest.

It was a small fire: burning calmly. The troll batted it with his hands. He put out that little fire just for two to spark to life across his body. Startled, the troll began to beat at his body. Like a hydra, the more he put out, the more fire that appeared.

Dropping Daniel, the troll began to beat his body. He was so distracted by the fire that he didn't seem to realize that he'd let go of the bridge and was tittering backwards. He fell off backwards.

Falling into the river and black cloud below, Emma could hear his body sizzle as it made contact with the icy waters below.

Daniel stood up and dusted himself off. Regina slowed Dember to a walk, swung off, and rushed towards him. Emma smiled despite herself. It was a rather touching scene.

Then something began to materialize at the foggy end of the bridge. White magic swirled like a collection of tightly grouped fireflies and, bursting from them, was a horse and rider. The pair weren't malicious looking. No. It appeared to be a runaway horse and a girl hanging tightly to the horse's neck: trying not to fall to her death under the trampling hooves.

The horse ran across the bridge: it's nose flaring and eyes rolled.

Emma yelled for Daniel to watch out. Regina sped up her pace: started waving her hands about in the air to warn Daniel of the approaching danger but the man's eyes were locked onto Regina. It was like he couldn't look away even to save his own life.

The horse and rider were within arm reach when Daniel finally looked over his shoulder. He couldn't even scream before the animal was upon him. Emma hugged herself. She was too far to hear but she could just see the body be mangled.

The horse continued running: the pair not realizing they were leaving a ravaged life behind them.

They ran by Regina and disappeared into white magic once again.

Emma stood over and watched. Regina grabbed the dead man and cried. Her head was tilted back and she seemed to be crying up to the sky. It was the most mournful sight that Emma had ever beheld.

She walked down the hill slowly: giving Regina plenty of time to grieve. Coming up to Dember's side, she grabbed his reins. Somewhere in her subconscious, she was aware she was using the horse as a shield. Her new companion seemed a little unstable at the best of times and Emma hoped the close presence of the horse would keep her from being burned to a crisp.

"That damn girl!" Regina screamed at Daniel's body. She dropped it. Clearly, with the life dead within, she didn't care about the outside anymore. She whirled around to face Emma. Emma swallowed.

Regina was a gorgeous woman. That Emma could admit but, at the moment, her features were twisted into something inhuman. Her eyes burned with amethyst anger, her hands twisted like claws, and her mouth was curled up into a snarl that reminded Emma of a dragon she had met long ago.

"Where did she go?!" She grabbed Emma by the collar of the shirt and snarled in her face.

Emma balked. "She…disappeared into a puff of white magic?"

Luckily Regina believed her and, with a shout of rage, let go of Emma. She kicked at the bridge under her foot. "I hate her! I HATE HER!" Regina stomped about. "I'm going to kill her!"

Gathering her bravery, Emma rested her hand on the pacing Regina's forearm. The girl whirled around.

"What?!"

Emma didn't say anything. Her first instinct was to say "calm down" but she knew enough to know that wouldn't go over well. She simply pulled Regina off the bridge and into the woods. Regina struggled for a little, continued to rant about that girl, but allowed Emma to settle her down against an overhang and start setting up camp.

She did everything: ignoring the tears that were dipping down Regina's tortured face. She tended to Dember: cleaning the sweat and singed hair, letting him drink from a nearby stream, and walking him to and fro to eat grass.

She set up a fire and started stewing a pot meat and water.

Regina had finally stopped ranting and was watching her silently. Emma felt like she was being hunted but, when she finally made eye contact, Regina gave her a soft smile. Deciding that she was being paranoid, she sat down and ate beside Regina.

The only sign of life that Regina showed, beside nibbling at the meat, was get up to rest her head on Dember's. The large horse stood still and let out soft noises. It was like he knew his rider was in emotional agony and was attempting to tend to her: as much as a horse can anyways.

"You are my good boy." She told him softly and patted his nose. The horse's ear pinned back for a moment, as Regina was not being gentle, but he tolerated it.

She pushed away from horse and walked back to Emma.

"Thanks."

She plopped down by Emma, turned her back to the girl, and pretended to sleep. Emma watcher her for a while before lying down herself. She couldn't sleep but, as soon as she relaxed, she was aware that Regina had rolled over to stare at her. Emma instantly felt uncomfortable. She wanted to open her eyes and stare back. Did she want to talk?

Instead, Emma pretended to sleep so long that she finally fell asleep.

She woke to Dember's screams. It took her a second to realize the sound wasn't a concoction of her dreams but something happening in real life. She sat up and reached for Regina to alert her that something was wrong.

Regina wasn't there.

"Emma!"

Emma leapt to her feet and rushed from under the underhang to where Dember was tied.

He was covered in a foamy layer of sweat. His eyes were rolled back until only the white was visible and he was in a state of complete panic. His tie was keeping him in place but he was fighting for all he was worth. He was rearing up, kicking out, and screaming.

"What's wrong!" Emma asked: spotting Regina standing off to the side.

"I don't know!" Regina shouted back.

Emma started whispering soothing words. She'd never calmed a horse before but her white magic gave her a way with animals. Grabbing Dember's reins, she continued to sooth the horse. The animal pranced but, as Emma could see, Dember was starting to calm down.

With the horse calmed down, Regina approached. Dember snorted and kicked.

"Let me get him tied down better." Regina pulled some rope from the travel back off the horse. Regina started using magic to animate the rope: like a snake it started to wrap itself around the saddle and started working itself towards the horse's head.

Ignoring Regina's creepy display of magic, Emma continued to sooth the horse. "What's wrong, boy?" Pulling back a little, she surveyed the horse. It was still dark but, starting to rise, Emma could see a sea of welts rising off the horse's heaving body.

Reaching out to touch one, Emma frowned. "Hey, Regina. These look like whip marks."

"Well, considering I whipped him, that's really not surprising."

Emma jerked back to stare wide eyed at Regina. Regina gave a wide, bemused smile.

"Don't be so surprised, Dear." Regina waved off her surprise. "It's nothing to what I'm about to do to you."

Regina slapped her hand down on Dember's side. The horse reared up. Without Emma's soothing, he was desperate to get away from his abuser once again. As he struggled, Emma felt a tug at her leg.

Oddly enough, the rope that Regina had magicked hadn't secured the horse. No, it had wrapped itself around the saddle horse at one end and, at the other, it had coiled itself around Emma's ankle.

Looking up just in time to see Regina set the rope holding Dember in place on fire. Dember began to get more frantic to get away. Emma was struck dumb: watching the rope burn.

"Have a fun ride." Regina laughed. Jerking back, the burned rope broke and Dember took off at a bolt. Emma was jerked off her feet and drug behind the startled horse. The rope was long enough that she wasn't in danger of being struck by hooves but, being drug behind the horse, only further startled the horse.

At first the pain was unbearable. She felt every stone and stick: cried out every time she bounced off a tree, and winced when the dirt started to leap up into her ruined back. Trying to sit up or put her hands down proved to be a bad idea.

After a while, her body simply became numb.

On and on the horse ran.

Emma heaved in a sharp breath. She sat straight up: screaming at the burning in her back that was so intense that it caused her vision to go white. Over her sobs and screams, she finally came back to her senses.

Darting from the clearing was a startled white doe.

"Damn you, Rumpelstiltskin." Emma sobbed. She pulled her knees to her chest and cried. While the adventure hadn't been real, the blood tickling down her back was real enough. What was a lesson without a lasting reminder?

When she was finally able to calm herself down, she staggered to her feet. She had a bone to pick with her mentor and his teaching methods.

As she staggered towards her little cabin, she came to an interesting view. Rumpelstiltskin was standing frozen. It was as if he'd been frozen in ice: standing with a quill in his hands.

A black haired woman stood in front of him. The woman looked vaguely familiar but Emma didn't give herself the chance to place her because, from the bushes, came a force of people. They drug a cage over and started loading her mentor in it.

It looked like Rumpelstiltskin had finally been outwitted.

But he was not about to taken away before Emma had the chance to give him a piece of her mind. Hobbling down the hill towards her mentor, she felt a bubbling anger starting in her chest. She felt betrayed. Regina was just a figment of Rumpelstiltskin's imagination: a tool to win and subsequently betray Emma's loyalty. A way to dampen the light in her soul and, yet, she still felt an unimaginable pain which, considering she'd known the fake Regina for only a day, it was a rather silly feeling.

The black haired woman saw her coming. "Who are…"

Emma launched the woman away with magic. She'd done it a million times but, this time, the woman went much farther at a faster speed than Emma had ever managed.

"Snow!" A man ran towards her. Emma tilted her head. He looked familiar too. She launched him away just as easily. In front of her face, she watched the white magic she used shake in midair. It morphed halfway in the air: changing from the graceful white magic to a cruel and intense black magic.

Emma stormed through the crowd of people. Many of them were dwarfs who took half the effort to knock away.

Emma jumped into the crate and marched over to the frozen Rumpelstiltskin.

"What…are…you..doing, girl?" Her mentor managed out through his frozen mouth.

"I'm not saving you, if that's what you think." Emma snarled out. She shoved the frozen man and he simply fell over. His whole body shook like a plate or cup falling onto a floor.

"…You are ruining everything." Rumpelstiltskin hissed.

"I'm ruining everything?!" Emma snarled. "You ruined my back!"

"You can do black magic, yes?" He mumbled. "I have no ruined everything." Emma whirled around and launched a mob trying to climb into the cage to subdue her. The man was yelling about how this was their only chance to catch Rumpelstiltskin and they couldn't let her free them. It seemed to double everyone's efforts.

"I have a plan."

"Oh a plan." Emma kicked a dwarf away. "Please enlighten me how _this…"_ Emma ducked a kick from the black haired woman, caught her heel, and pushed her out of the cage, "Is a part of your plan?"

"Trust me." He mumbled. "This plan gets me where I need to go and get _you_ to your true love."

Emma scoffed. "Who needs true love?"

At her declaration against true love, she saw both the man and woman falter in their step. They almost looked sad to hear such a young, pretty girl dismiss true love.

"It'll get you everything you've ever wanted."

Emma sighed. Of course, he would use that card. She dropped down close to him for a second.

"I leave you to rot, you give me everything I want. Deal?"

"Deal."

Sure, she hadn't signed any contract but she knew her mentor enough to know a deal was a deal. With a sigh, she stood up. "And don't let them know of our plan, yes?"

Emma rolled her eyes and stood off against the black haired woman and her princely man. "Release my mentor." Emma said as convincingly as she could. "Or I'll blast you out of existence."

The two nodded to each other and charged. Emma halfheartedly tossed magic at them. Shoving them out of the cage, she moved the fight into the open. She slowly moved herself until her back was at the edge of the tree line.

"Now Charming!"

Charming dove with his sword extended. Emma screamed, grabbed her side, and let out a few "woe is me" cries. Emma had turned so the flat edge of the sword had touched her bloody back: coating the blade in her blood. She continued to stagger around for a minute, under the guilty view of the two older people, before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

Emma landed a couple kills away. She could hear a cheer go up. People really were stupid. Their stupidity made Rumpel's job so much easier. She stood up to full height. Standing in front of her was the white doe.

It sniffed, let out a scared huff, and turned and fled. Well, Emma mused, it looked like her peaceful communion with animals was over. She attempted to feel sad. Maybe her heart had been ripped out when she was being drug or, maybe, the dark magic was already working on her heart but she couldn't muster the energy to care.

As she hobbled towards the nearest town, she cursed Rumpelstiltskin's lack of forethought. He'd taught her quite a few little magic tricks but he'd never bothered with healing charms: saying that black magic wasn't well-suited for the job. Her throbbing back could have really used some healing: even from unsuitable magic.

Her entire walk consisted of animals recognizing her and running towards her. Then, as they got close enough to smell her magic, they would turn in fear and flee. One by one, the buck she befriended ran. The woodpecker that had cost her numerous hours of sleep flew to the top of the tree. A chipmunk shoved all his acorns into his cheeks until they threatened to break and ran for cover.

Emma ignored them all. She just continued to hobble.

Then she came to the village. She sighed sharply. This was just her luck.

The town looked like any other except for the fact that all the villagers were dead. It looked as if they'd been lined up and then slaughtered. Not knowing what had done the killing or if they were still about, she turned around to leave.

Behind her stood a black knight: an armored solider from the Evil Queen's army. Emma sighed. This really wasn't her day.

"Get away, did you?" The knight asked. "And then you were stupid enough to hang around?" He prodded her shoulder with his spear: forcing her to walk backwards. Seeing her, knights seemed to melt from the woodwork. They circled around and shouted out jeers to her.

Emma waited until the man was feeling very cocky and then grabbed the spear's shaft and forced it backwards into his stomach. The man groaned and collapsed into the ground. Emma broke the spear over her knee and threw it at his helmeted head.

The group laughed deeply. "Can't handle a wee lamb?" They joked.

Another man stepped forward. He beat his chest in a mocking manner. Emma arched her eyebrow at him. As he bounced around like an idiot, obviously making light of Emma's ability, Emma swiped his feet from under him and then kicked him in the head so hard that his helmet was sent flying.

"Enough!"

The obvious leader of the group marched forward. The crowd separated for him and the armored woman trailing after him. The man never removed his helmet but Emma just knew his eyes were surveying her.

"Kill her."

Emma raised her hands into a fighting stance: waiting to see who would charge her. A knight raised his confidence and charged forward with his sword drawn. Emma merely stepped out of the way and tripped him. The idiot didn't release his sword and impaled a knight who hadn't gotten out of the way fast enough.

A group of three knights tried next. They seemed to think that there was strength in numbers but, with the crowd, there wasn't as much room to swing. In fact, one knight seemed to accidentally knock his comrade unconscious and, while he stared dumbstruck, Emma kneed his groin hard enough to reduce his chances of ever having children.

The last one just backed away.

"For the love of the Queen." The leader groaned. He unsheathed his sword and Emma was filled with a sense of dread. She could sense true power from this person. She could very well be defeated _if_ she didn't have magic.

With a smirk, she attempted to lit a small fireball in her hand. There was nothing but an icy-hot pain flaring in her back. Like a bell, she remembered a peculiar thing about magic. It required energy: energy that was being directed to the healing of her back and was no longer accessible to her.

Emma swallowed.

The leader hefted up his heavy sword but a small hand placed itself on his chest. "Calm yourself, Pinocchio." She waved off the man. "Maybe execution isn't the only way to deal with the child. She shows great combative skill and isn't it the Queen herself who specifically demanded that women pull their weight and join is as soldiers?"

Pinocchio lowered his broad sword but grunted. "The Queen also demanded that all villagers aiding Snow White be slaughtered."

Emma perked up. She doesn't know whose memories it was from but she saw a flier with the words WANTED: SNOW WHITE and a picture of a woman's face. A face, it turns out, she had just seen.

"This isn't actually my village but..Snow White?" Emma tilted her head. "About ya tall, black hair, companion to a…charming man with an eternal puppy expression?"

Pinocchio narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"I just saw her." Emma pointed over her shoulder. "They are attacking Rumpelstiltskin about three hills over." They stared at her with distrusting expressions. "I think she is fighting with…dwarfs? They are rather short."

"I can spot a lie as clearly if your nose had grown." The man snarled. He studied her before whirling to his men. "Well, you heard, Men! Snow White is near!" With a cheer, the men rushed off to where Snow White and her group were probably finishing up locking Rumpelstiltskin up.

The woman remained. "Lucky thing, aren't you?"

Emma tilted her head curiously. "I don't believe in luck."

The woman laughed. "Well, whatever you believe in, you were a scale's length from death." The woman reached down to a dead villager and pried a wooden instrument from his hands. It looked like it was a hoe whose head had been torn off. The woman tossed it to Emma who caught it rather clumsily. She had a lot of memories but none of them were from combatants.

"I'm part of the army?" Emma's head attempted to wrap itself around the hasty events.

The woman shrugged. "Not a solider by any means." The woman circled around her and pressed two sharp fingers into her bleeding back. "That'll take many moons to heal. We'll start you off as my Army Dog. When, and if, you heal, we will talk about letting you be a solider." The woman grabbed Emma's shirt and smiled. "My name's Lilly and," forcing Emma to kneel, she said "Dog's aren't allowed to stand on two legs."


	4. Chapter 4

"Pig!"

Emma winced. She was on her knees and shining Lilly's armor until it was so clean that it looked like an armor made of light: the reflection so intense that it could blind the enemy. Despite Lilly's declaration that she would be her dog, Emma quickly earned the nickname Pig.

The other "Army Dogs", which was just a mean nickname for errand runners for high ranking officers, assured Emma that Lilly only treated her badly because she was jealous of Emma's reputation for beauty and prowess. Her initial fight with the Queen's men at the slaughtered village had become a folktale (Emma had heard she'd singlehandedly defeated the Queen herself) though Emma hadn't fought since then.

Emma straightened her back. "Officer Lilly." She greeted.

The woman snorted. "I said 'an armor made of light', not a smudged abomination." Lilly kicked the armor from Emma's hands and into the mud off to their left. Emma didn't react despite the armor she'd spent the last two hours shining was now dirtier than when she had started.

"My apologies. I'll do it better next time."

Lilly stared down at her. "That's what you always say." The officer huffed. "And, yet, you never do." She shook her head before seemingly remembering why she had been tracking down her pig in the first place. "A member of the royal guard and an old friend of mine is coming for a visit."

"A good visit?" Emma attempted to get a feel for the mood her master would be in for the next few days.

Lilly winced. "A visit from Red is never a good thing." Shaking her head, Lilly glowered once again. "That being said, I can't have her finding out that you've merely been leaching off our supplies without any contribution of sorts."

Emma wanted to argue that she had more than made up for the food she ate. She worked from when the sun went up until it set but was smart enough to hold her tongue.

"Grumpy…"

Emma winced at the notoriously mean spirited dwarf.

"Is expecting you at the arena for the start of your training tomorrow." Lilly grabbed a handful of her hair. "I am your commander and you will not embarrass me."

"I won't." Emma assured quickly. She'd worked for Lilly for about eight months now and, while she'd never suffered more than an irritated shoulder bump or being knocked off her feet, Lilly had kept her hands to herself. Still, Emma had seen the damage that Lilly could inflict. It was almost inhuman and Emma was terrified of finding herself on the other end of that.

Lilly dropped her hair and shrugged. "Not that it matters anymore. Once Grumpy gets to you, you are no longer by pig. Such a sad day."

Without even bothering to look sad at her announcement of the end of her and Emma's working relationship, Lilly walked away with a quick "That armor better be shining!" over her shoulder. Emma remained stiff until Lilly was out of sight.

With a sigh, Emma picked up the heavy and dirty armor. Her fingers and wrist ached from the repetitive cleaning but, with a quick crack of her joints, she started cleaning again.

It was times like this: when she was alone despite being surrounded by people, that she wished she still had her affinity of animals. The only animals that would allow her to come close to them were horses and, after what had happened with Regina and Dember, Emma found herself with quite a phobia of them. And they knew it. Emma swore that the horses went out of their way to torture her; kick out when she came near, rearing anytime she was forced to saddle one, and rush her whenever they got the chance.

The other 'dogs' attempted to socialize with each other but each one was so busy that there was never a moment between the two of them. Soldiers wouldn't be caught dead talking to the 'dogs' though some lonely men had broken the tradition when it came to Emma. If she received one more love poem, she'd have enough paper to build her own forest.

She finished cleaning the armor just in time. Lilly came around the corner, eyes wide. Whoever this 'Red' was, they clearly caused some panic. Lilly curled her nose up at the flawless armor. Instead of complaing, Lilly ripped on the armor and attempted to make herself look presentable. Once she was ready, she grabbed Emma.

"You will wait on us. You will not talk. You will not embarrass me. Do you understand?"

Emma nodded. Lilly looked over her and frowned. "Do you not know what a bath is?" Emma was dirty but, considering she was nothing more than a glorified slave, Lilly really couldn't be surprised. "If I had the time, I'd dunk you head first in a lake."

"Threatening your errand girl?"

"Red!"

Lilly released her and whirled around. Emma turned slower but came across a familiar face. It was the giant she-wolf that had taken her from her wolf family. Her first response was to greet the werewolf: maybe even get to have a conversation in wolf but thought better of it quickly. Red had left her at the work house last time and Emma didn't know what she'd do now.

Red flickered her eyes towards Emma and, for a second, Emma thought she saw a flicker of recognition but it was wiped away when an overeager Lilly walked into the wolf's personal space. Red leaned back and surveyed the officer with little interest.

"Lilly." Red greeted. "It's been a long time. New Army Dog?"

"Stray." Lilly waved Emma off. "Not very bright but loyal as they come. Would you like water, food…"

Red waved her off. "I'm not here on a social call. I have matters to discuss with Pinocchio…"

"He is out." Lilly interrupted. "He and a band of men went South. We haven't been updated on Snow White's's location much of late but Robin Good and his Merry Men have been seen in the village south from here. Thick as thieves is as the saying goes."

Emma had never seen Lilly so desperate to please. Lilly enjoyed the presence of men: Lord knows she'd run into plenty of goofily smiling men leaving her master's tent but she'd never seen her so enamored. It wasn't a sexual way. More of a "your opinion means absolutely everything to me" kind of way.

Red, on the other hand, looked as bored as Emma once remembered her. Lilly could suddenly drop dead where she stood and Emma doubted that Red would even lose a moment's sleep over it.

"Get me some water, will ya?" Red waved her hand. Emma turned to leave but Red halted her. "I mean you." Lilly looked shocked, hurt, but still rushed out to complete the task. Red eyed Emma for a while before turning to observe the collection of tents.

"You a solider, girl?" Red asked.

Emma jumped in surprised. "Not yet but I'm due to start tomorrow." When Re didn't answer, Emma couldn't stop the word vomit from spewing from her lips. "I don't know why I'm so nervous. I'm very good at hand to hand combat." She left out the part that her wolf pack had taught it to her.

Ruby curled up her lip. "Hand to hand? That's for soldiers who can't afford weapons."

"So the white army?"

Red smirked at the girl's quick wit. "Exactly." Eyeing the girl, Red made the disappointing note, "You aren't really built for weapons though. Your shoulders are too narrow: won't be able to hold the weight well." A further assessment revealed, "You aren't really built for combat. Where did they find you again?"

"I found her." Lilly returned: slightly panting but holding water as if her life depended on it. "Diamond in the rough, she is. She might not look like much but she can toss quite a few men on their head."

"If that's true, why isn't she trained?"

"Rest." Lilly answered. "She was grievously hurt when we found her. Don't know what happened but we could see the actual spine and ribs in her back. The skin and muscle was just sliced off. Don't know how though. She's been rather closed lipped about it."

Red nodded. "That explains the hunchback."

Emma snorted and straightened her back. She wasn't hunchback. She was just a notorious slumper! Red should try spending most of her childhood running around on all fours and see if she doesn't slump.

Red turned away from the blonde's disgruntled look: a smile playing on the corner of her lips. The wolf in her enjoyed taunting and playing with people. It made her unpopular but she didn't really care.

"Lilly, I have things to discuss with Pinocchio but you'll do." She waved off Emma and watched as the girl, who was keeping her back comically straight, slipped away to let them converse in private. "We have receive word that the young prince is in danger."

Red glanced around. "We captured a young kitchen boy with intentions of slipping a Red Root in Young Henry's food. He was stopped and questioned but he doesn't know anything."

"Are there others?"

"If you'd let me finished, I would have explained that we don't know and fear there are." Red huffed. "With the Prince's second birthday coming up, I am demanding your diligence on the day of the ball and any information that you may have."

Ghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghhgghghghghghghghghghghghghgh

Regina rubbed her temples. "What do you mean the search came up empty?" Regina eyed Red with an intensity that Red had rarely ever seen. "Maybe you were too light handed."

Red fingered the dried blood on her palms absentmindedly. "No, My Queen. I have tortured the spy to the best" Red flashed her sharp and cruel fangs, "of my abilities. He has told me his darkest secrets. I'm afraid he just do not know anything."

Regina slammed her hand down on the top of her lap. "There is a bounty on the head of my two-year-old son, your prince. How does no one have any information about it?!" When Red didn't answer, Regina attempted to calm herself. She could feel a rampage licking at the roof of her mouth and she was so close to giving into the seductive anger.

Then the door opened.

Graham struggled under the frantic kicks of the two-year old. The toddler seemed to be mid-fit and the Huntsmen seemed helpless under the storm of kicks and hits the child was delivering. Henry's face was red and he seemed genuinely upset. The last time he'd been this upset, Regina remembered, the cook hadn't allowed him to knaw on a rather sharp knife.

"I'm sorry, My Queen." Graham apologized.

Seeing his mother, Henry shoved Graham away and ran awkwardly to his mother. Henry was rather intelligent, Regina was proud to note, but his physical abilities were a little slow for his age. He could walk and run but still spent half of his time sprawled out across the ground.

"Mother." The child demanded her attention and grabbed onto her clothing in a desperate attempt to pull himself up into her lap.

"Henry." The Queen greeted fondly and kissed the child's clammy forehead. "What ails you, Little One?"

Glaring over balefully at Graham, Henry began to babble. "G'ham took toy."

"Did he take your toy?" The Queen translated, arching her eyebrow at the man. She valued the man but, the slightest injustice towards her son, she'd have him skinned. Graham sighed and dug into his pocket. Pulling out an iron horse shoe complete with rusty nails, he held it out with an exasperated look.

Seeing his 'toy', Henry wiggled until Regina put him on the ground and the loped awkwardly over to Graham. He tried to grab the horse shoe but Graham instantly held it out of reach.

"I see." The Queen nodded. "Henry, My Love, that is a peasant toy." Hearing the word 'peasant', Henry recoiled. Nobody knows what the Queen told the prince to cause him to fear all things peasant but, whatever it was, the boy refused to interact with such things. With a disgusted snort, the boy turned away.

Seeing Red, he gave a toothy smile. "Wolfy."

Red stiffened as the boy tumbled towards her. Regina had come to realize that her army of werewolves didn't enjoy human children much. A werewolf could hurt a full grown man without realizing it and they seemed fearful of even touching a child: the possibility of breaking the child with a touch a very real threat.

Henry grabbed her red cape and tugged at it. He pulled so hard that he lost his balance and toppled over backwards. His face went slack in shock. All three adults knew what was about to follow and, sure enough, his eyes crinkled up and he began to cry.

Regina rushed to him and peppered him in kisses. She'd watched his fall and logically knew that he wasn't in any kind of pain but that didn't stop her heart from panicking when he let out such a pained cry. When he sought comfort from her, she almost teared up. Of all the people alive today, not a single would ever look to _her_ for comfort but didn't bother little Henry. She wasn't a big bad Queen. She was his mom and her hugs and kisses made everything okay.

Holding him close, she leveled Red with a serious stare. "I don't care what you have to do but you will do everything to keep him safe."

Red nodded. "I visited Pinocchio and his men today. They haven't come across anything that would prove useful but I've put them on high alert for anything suspicious. They'll stretch out and cover as much distance as they can on your Son's ball."

Regina nodded. "That's only four days away, isn't it?" Regina pushed Henry's hair away. You'll officially be two, won't you?" Her son just sucked on his palm and rested in his mother's warm embrace. "And we are going to make it a grand party. A safe," Regina shot Red a harsh look, "Grand party."

The wolf took that as her cue to leave. With a sharp nod, she and Graham left.

Regina watched them go before returning to her little Prince. "Henry?" The boy seemed halfway asleep and, instead of waking him and spearheading the hunt for Snow White, she leaned back and let the boy sleep. Since Henry had come around, she'd found herself spending less time hunting down Snow White and more quality time with her son.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Love?"

Without raising his head from her chest, he started groping around her desk. Grabbing a journal that highlighted the agricultural market of her kingdom, he put it into her hand. "Tell me a story." Regina chuckled. She opened the book and flickered over the words.

Ignoring the actual words, Regina started to read. "Once upon a time, there was a horse…"

"No!" Henry cried. "No more horses. Tell me about Princess."

Disgruntled by the choice, Regina went through her mind to see what stories she deemed acceptable. In no way would she allow her son to hear stories of Aurora, Show White, Merida, or any other airheaded royal.

Finally, she decided to simply make up a story. "Once upon a time, there was a Princess. She was…tall and blonde and brave and…strong." Regina really wasn't very creative. "This Princess was an amazing rider and rode the most impressive stallion…"

Hearing a rather pathetic snore, she realized her son had fallen asleep. Relieved that she didn't have to continue her failing story, Regina settled down for a nap herself.

The ball was everything that Regina had demanded it be. She had spared no expense for Henry's second birthday and, even if the boy didn't realize how much she'd done for him, she was happy she had done it.

From all over the land, people had come to pay tribute to the young prince. While many where royals and brought expensive gifts, Regina's favorite gift was always from the werewolf. They'd dress in animals skins (not wolves' obviously) and dance. It wasn't a dance that one usually sees at a ball: it was wild and not choreographed and complete with howling and stomping but it was the most beautiful disaster that Regina had ever seen.

The guests were seated at a long table: nearly the length of the impressive ball room. The table was full of food, ale, and anything else a guest could desire. The wolves danced around and, briefly, on the table.

Even Henry had watched the wolves throw themselves about the floor with fascination. Red, being the go between, had not participated and explained what was happening to the royal pair.

"This is a story about the great hunt." Red explained. "Many years ago, the werewolves were hunted for their pelts. Because of our animal form, we were considered less than human and a bounty was placed upon us. For nearly a decade, we lived in fear from hunters. Our families were slaughtered…"

Regina cleared her throat and glanced at the impressionable Henry. More than likely he didn't understand the entirety of what Red was saying but, with his unusually high intelligence, Regina wasn't going to be taking any chances.

"Our families were torn apart. Then, one day, a woman appeared. She had been married to a man who she didn't love and, when he died, she became Queen. This woman had always loved the werewolves and used her new powers to offer an alliance with the werewolves in exchange for protection. To this day, the remain loyal to her and her new son."

Regina smiled into her palm. It was always nice to hear a story where she was the hero and not the villain. Of course, Red had left out the part where Regina had actually used her influence over the werewolf community to have them murder her husband, the then king Leopard.

The wolves stopped dancing. The party attenders looked baffled by what they had just seen and only started to clap once the queen stood and did so. The wolves looked uninterested in the praise and wandered out the nearest doors. With their gift delivered, there was nothing keeping them in society.

Turning back to the food in front of them, Regina raised a glass. "To my dearest son Henry. May you have a glorious birthday!"

"Long Live Henry." The guests agreed in an uplifting shout. They banged their cups together and clapped each other on the back.

"Enjoy the feast!"

With the wolves gone, the remaining members of the ball were well-mannered and civilized. Everyone was polite and easy conversation seemed to flow.

Regina payed no attention to the members of the ball and only had eyes for the little boy sitting next to her. It was a servant's job to cut the meat but that meant very little to the doting mother. She cut her son's food many times smaller than it needed to be: eliminating any mircroscopic chance that he could choke.

"Do you like the party?"

Henry gave a big, toothy nod and banged the ends of his silverware against the table top in a sign of impatience.

"Henry." Regina warned. "That is not polite."

Looking a little cowed, Henry stopped banging his silverware but wiggled impatiently for his mother to finish cutting his food. When she was satisfied, she finally allowed her little son to eat. Keeping an eye on him, she turned to Red.

She was granted a place next to the Queen for many reasons. The most prevelant one was to show the strength of the queen's alliance with the werewolves. Also, it didn't help that Red was also quite ablehanded when it came to protecting the two royals.

"Have you seen the Golded-Tusk Boar yet?"

At the mention of it, Red perked up. "Yes, My Queen. He is quite gorgeous. Both heads are the exact same size. Where did you find him?"

"My men found him in the Ice Lands. He should be a fine challenge for you and your wolves. He gutted three men and a horse during his capture. He has quite a temper."

Red nodded. "I am very excited, you Majesty. Golded-Tusk boars are a delicacy to our kind, as you know, so we all eagerly await the hunts you set up for us."

Henry coughed.

Regina glanced over. The little boy just wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and continued to eat.

Red continued. "We wait for your hunts every year. Even when you just release stags or bears, we are excited. With a Golded-Tusk Boar, we are beside ourselves. Have you set the date?"

Regina shook her head. "He is rather malnourished. What convinced him to live in the Ice Lands is…" Henry coughed again, "Darling, are you feeling okay."

Henry nodded. It was slow and tired. Nothing like the energetic boy that had just been sitting there moments before. His eyes fluttered closed and, with a thud, Henry fell face first into his food. Alarmed, Regina shook her sleeping son.

"Henry?!" The boy continued to sleep. His normally pale skin grew ashen white as if something was sucking the color from his being. The boy's head flopped about as Regina's panicked shaking mounted. "HENRY!"

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffff

Emma squealed. Grumpy, the dwarf put in charge of her training, had struck her across her knuckles with the wooden sword. Emma dropped her matching weapon and clutched her hand to her chest. She had been nervous for her first day of training and had expected Grumpy to start her with the basics. Instead the short man had struck her with a barrage of strikes until she was black and blue.

That had been two days ago and, into her third day of training, she was no better at fighting.

Grumpy sighed and lowered his sword. "Look, Girlie. I only agreed to train you because I heard you weren't useless."

Emma nursed her bloody knuckles and glared at him balefully. "I've never handled a sword before."

"That doesn't surprise me." Grumpy agreed. "But you'll be handling one now. Pick it up." Emma leaned down to pick it up just for the broad side of the wooden sword to strike her back. While her back had healed magnificently well, it was still sensitive to the touch.

The unexpected action made her collapse to the ground. Hearing a loud and hefty sigh, Emma scrambled back to her feet with the sword in hand. "Sorry."

"Stop…saying…sorry." Grumpy said between blows of his sword. Emma blocked them clumsily. "Do you think the Queen ever says sorry?"

As they fought, Emma suddenly saw an opening. If she really thought about it, she'd realize it was too rooky a mistake: opening one's entire body to attack and was obviously done on purpose. Emma started to swing towards the dwarf but, before she could hit him, she stopped herself. The blade hovered an inch for the dwarf's unprotected body.

The dwarf let out an angry sound and threw his forearm into her face. Emma clutched her now bleeding nose and backed away.

"You know what your problem is?" The dwarf asked angrily. "You just don't have it in you. You don't have that taste for blood."

"I'm tasting it now." Emma spit blood from her mouth. Seeing her mentor's irritated look, she added, "But you aren't the first one to say that."

Grumpy dropped his sword and rubbed her temples. "We punish people in this army when they don't do well in training. I'd twitch you good buuut, since we have two bad backs between us, so I'll out you to better use."

He pointed his wooden sword to the carol that contained the camp's warhorses. "You'll clean up after them…"

Emma turned white. Glancing over at the horses, she felt the irrational fear that always surfaced around the hooved animals. "Can't I do anything else?" Emma asked: her tone verging on desperation. Grumpy arched his furry eyebrow at her.

"Is that job not glamorous enough?" The dwarf taunted. "Does the little girl think she is too good to clean the horse shit? Fine! How about carting off the Dungeon's dead? Since the Prince's poisoning, the Queen needs a full time worker just to cart of the dead bodies she's created."

It was obvious that Grumpy was expecting Emma to be humbled and beg for the horse job back. Instead, Emma nodded hastily. "Yes, I will do that."

Startled, the dwarf gaped, "What?"

"I'll cart the dead bodies away, sir." Emma nodded: sparing the horses a fearful look. "The Dungeons are what? A two hours walk? Yes, yes sir. Just call me the dead carter…off-er."

"If you're sure…" Grumpy waited for her to take it back but seeing the determined look in her green eyes, Grumpy sighed. "Your training will continue in the mornings. Noons, you'll walk down to the Dark Kingdom and spend your evening carting off the bodies."

He paused. "You sure you just don't want to clean up after the horses? It only takes a few hours."

Emma nodded. "I am grateful for the chance to be useful for the Queen."

The baffled Grumpy wrote a letter for her to take to the Dungeon Master. He kept expecting the blonde to change her mind but, as he watched her walk off (despite being offered a horse to ride), he decided that his newest charge was an oddity.

The walk took Emma all of the two hours. The first hour, she enjoyed nature and being alone. The second hour she grumbled about the distance and cursed Rumpelstiltskin for giving her such a fear of horses.

Coming up to the Dark Kingdom, Emma walked the cobbled streets. She passed many grand houses and came upon the realization that she wouldn't remember the workhouse if she saw it. The people were plentiful on the path. That being said, the people all existed in their own world. They passed by one another but there seemed to be little interaction between them.

The Queen's Castle was a sharp looking building. After the attack on Prince Henry (who had yet to wake up and whose health was still failing), the Queen had gained scores of new guards. They were mostly used to replace the guards who the Queen had suspecting of aiding in Henry's poisoning and had been tortured and/or killed. Mostly killed _after_ being tortured.

Emma had to present the letter five times before she was able to show it to the Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master was a drunk. He seemed handsome, Emma assumed, with his blue eyes and black hair. Then she saw a hook where his hand should have been and decided that she was going to stay out of his staggering way.

"Call me Hook. Or Kilian. Strike that…call me Captain." The drunk man decided, waving the letter about as if he was dancing with it. "Why in Bloody Tides would they send you to collect the dead? Aren't you camped an hour's ride from here?"

"Two hours if you walk." Emma supplied.

"We could have just used one of the plentiful young men around here." Hook prodded her chest with a finger. "You must have done something to receive this amount of punishment. You let Snow White go?"

Emma shook her head. "Grumpy is punishing me for…"

"Grumpy?!" Hook shouted. "Well, why didn't you say so, Lass? He is an old drinking pal of mind. I'll trust his judgment." He glanced at the letter again and poked the bottom with his hook. "Well, there is his signature."

"Uhhh Captain…do you…" Emma reached out hesitantly. The man had been swaying since she entered the dungeon but now he was standing on one foot and was in extreme danger of falling over. "Are you…"

"Lemme show you the bodies!" Hook announced gleefully. "You don't have a weak stomach, do you? Cause I'll tell you, we have enough vomit on these floors without you making a contribution."

"No, sir."

"Then this way." Hook tripped over a water bucket. He caught himself and continued on. Emma followed after. Now that she was focusing on the obviously drunk man, she turned her attention to her surroundings.

The dungeons were how she'd remember them. Dark, murky, and smelling like the inside of a rotting deer corpse. Emma could smell human feces, the iron smell of blood, and the smell of what she feared was some kind of infectious disease. She could hear breathing. It wasn't from Hook, so she simply assumed they weren't the only occupants down here.

As she passed a cell, her suspicions were confirmed.

A man suddenly exploded through the cells: his arms trying to grab at Emma. Emma jumped and backed away. "Run, Girl! The devil lives here! Run! Run! Ru…"

"Back, you drunk!" Hook demanded and lunged at the man with his hook. The man slunk back into the shadows of his cell. Hook chuckled. "Damn, Drunk. Can't control his ale."

Then they came to a room. It looked like all the other cells except this one was littered with dead bodies. Emma had said she wasn't weak stomached but her stomach lurched and jumped. She clamped her teeth together to keep from throwing up.

Hook grabbed the wall and threw up. Emma grabbed her noise and fought the urge to sympathetically vomit.

"Sorry." Hook chuckled, wiping bile onto his shaking arm. "Drank just a bit too much. I'll blame that on him." He pointed to a man whose body was facing a different direction that his head. "Queen can't punish him anymore."

"The Queen did this?'

"Well, some of it. That Red wolf of hers did the rest. Bitches, Lass. Bitches." Hook leaned down and sank his hook into a man's calf. "So you take the dead bodies from this room," Hook lead her out of the room where a shoot was directly to her right, "And you dump the bodies through here." Hook pushed the man through the shoot.

"Then you come down this staircase." Hook led her down a staircase. They ended up in a barn. Standing in the corner was a magnificent bull: covered in flies, morbidly obese, and munching on moldy straw. There was another pen.

Emma walked over to it and peered around the pen. She could see something breathing on the other side of a large trough. She attempted to peer around it but Hook grabbed her shoulder. "You let that damn monster sleep, Lass." Hook advised. "That boar has an extra head of mean to him. BUT! Never let the beast out. He'll walk all the way back to the White Sea and the queen will not be happy to dispatch men to bring him back. _This_ is what I'm here to show you."

Under the shoot was a cart. The man that Hook had just thrown own the shoot was lying in it: one leg sticking over the side.

"Once you've cleaned the room out or the cart is full," Hook instructed, "You hook this cart up to that bull. His name is Gus. He'll pull whatever you ask of him and eat everything you tell him not to. You lead him down to the river a mile out of the kingdom to the West and dump the bodies into the river."

"Doesn't that poison the water?"

Hook nodded. "The White Kingdom is down river from us. The queen calls the bodies gifts." He shrugged. "It's really not that hard of a job. Only thing you can't do is interrupt the Queen while she busy making more dead bodies in that room. Last one did and, well, the position instantly become unfilled."

Emma swallowed and nodded.

"Don't show mercy. Everyone down here is being cared for to the Queen's specifications. If they are starving, don't feed them. If they are dehydrated, don't give them water. It may be hard on a soft heart but, trust me, it's better on this side of the bars."

With that, the drunk stumble off and Emma got to work.

As she walked in, she simply sighed.

"I guess I can be thankful no one is rotting."

It was true. It appeared that all the bodies had been killed today. While there were flies present, the bodies were in early, early stages of decomposing. It could be a lot worse.

"If I wasn't afraid of horses…" Emma grumpled.

The women tortured were easy for Emma to discard. Her time as Lilly's Army Dog had built up her muscles. It was when she came to getting the men through the shoot that she had problems. The bodies had started to tighten, so Emma would rather have to wrangle loose limbs while she muscles a much larger body into a small space or have to rearrange stiff limbs to fit. All in all, it was a time consuming and dirty mess.

When the floor was finally free of dead bodies, Emma paused. Her job entailed removing the dead bodies but the floor was dirty. She hesitated before leaving it be. She wouldn't be doing the extra work of cleaning the floors.

Gus, the overweight bull, took a while to get the harness on and, once it was on, she had to bully the giant animal to the cart. The animal was sweet and constantly rubbing his head against Emma's body: each rub nearly knocking her over.

The cart's load was beginning to smell, so Emma hastily lead the bull out of the makeshift barn. The castle lay on the backside of the kingdom, so Emma was able to get the bodies out without much attention. The road to the dumping site was terrifyingly well used. Obviously, this wasn't the first time the Queen had filled a cart with dead bodies.

The road led to a bridge. It was a modest bridge over a calm, almost placid body of water. Emma could see the ripples farther down the stream. The bull pulled himself from Emma's grip and hurried his awkward body to the side of the stream and began to noisily suckle down the water.

Letting the animal drink, Emma scaled onto the cart and began to toss the bodies into the stream: below where the bull was drinking. The bodies would float where they were dropped and it looked like they would decompose where they'd been dropped. Then an unseen current would catch them and drag them down the stream as if some invisible monster were dragging them away.

"This is my life now." Emma sighed: watching the last of the bodies float away.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Did. Snow. White. Order. You. TO POISON MY SON?!" The Evil Queen demanded between bursts of torturous magic. The servant laid at her feet and twitched under the magic's painful clutches: legs flopping about uselessly.

This maid had been a faithful servant of the queen for many years but, after learning about a time when the maid had been in a village where Snow White had been spotted six years ago, the queen set about to see if the woman was a spy.

Her legs stopped flopping. The woman's panicked eyes grew peaceful and the screams fell from her lips. She died: heart unable to handle anymore.

The queen screamed. The body in front of her caught fire. It was an odd and cruel looking, purple flame that viscously attacked the prone body. The magic fire continued to burn even after burning the body in mere seconds: flickering as if the fire were waiting to bed fed again. Waiting to be commanded.

"Another one?" Red asked. The werewolf was sitting in the corner with her face buried into the crook of her elbow. She wasn't disturbed by the display. She'd been in the queen's service for so long that she hadn't even flinched. She was; however, huddling away from the purple fire that was beginning to appear more often. Wolves didn't like fire.

The queen whirled onto her wolf. In her anger riddled mind, she mulled over torturing the wolf. Not because she was simply angry but because her werewolf was constantly in the same area as the Charmings. Irrationally, she could speculate that Snow White had converted her most faithful servant. Thankfully, for the werewolf, the queen knew it wasn't true.

With a shaky sigh, the queen nodded. "Bring me the chief!"

The Royal Chief was a portly man with painfully white skin. His eyes were an off-putting blue and his hair was as white as untrodden snow. The man seemed accepting of his fate as the guards led him into the dungeon. His blue eyes took in the already large number of dead bodies with disinterest.

"Did your majesty not enjoy the apple tarts?" The man asked.

Red sighed and buried her face back into her elbow.

"Apple tarts?!" The Queen roared. "This isn't about Apple tarts, you tart." The guards released the man and hurried out of the dingy cell. They didn't want to be within the range of the Queen's magic.

"Ohh?" The chief mused. "The curd then?"

Purple magic rushed from the queen's clenched fists and whipped him across the chest. The man was suddenly forced into a sitting position. His face never changed.

"The only food this is about is the food that was used to poison my son!" The queen spat at the man. She towered over the man with a sneer. "Tell me what you know of it."

"Not much." The chief said blankly. "I know of food. Poison…not much."

"But you know some." The queen pressed.

The man gave a halfhearted shrug. "I know enough."

"Tell me what you know." The queen was quickly losing patience. Red's cape suddenly caught fire: a small flickering at the end that was easily beat out by a panicked wolf.

The man drummed his fingers against the floor beside him. "I know of a vile."

"A vile." The queen pressed.

"A vile with a brown liquid. I don't know much: what was in it, what it did, whose food it went in, or who gave it to me." The man shrugged again. "I really don't much. Do know the Prince ate it."

The queen shook. She'd been torturing people for a week. Not one had confessed to knowing of anything about the attack on her son. She imagined she'd be so relieved to find someone who knew. But she wasn't. She was angry. All those helpless feelings and anger suddenly had a target to focus on and, without a conscious effort, her magic left her body in an enormous amount and smashed into the body of the chief.

"Don't know much." Was the man's last words as the purple fire engulfed him.

"Oi."

The queen whirled around to see Killian standing in the doorway. He seemed unafraid of the queen. Red watched over her arm. She was confused by Killian's relationship with the queen. The man was useless, unsightly, and a staggering drunk but the queen seemed content to let him vomit about the kingdom with little consequence.

"Yes?" The queen ground out. Regret started to consume her. She'd killed her only lead and now she knew very little more than she had when she started.

"I heard what the poor sack said." Killian slurred out. "Brown liquid in a vile. I, m'queen, am a master of brown liquid in bottles that are quite harmful to the body." As he said that, he shook about a canteen in his good hand. It sloshed about and the ex-pirate took a hearty swig. He hissed. "Bloody storm, that's strong."

"Pirate…" The queen warned.

"Sorry, m'lady." Killian apologized. "I've just had a tad too much. But I know a thing or two about poison and very few are brown. May I see the boy?"

The queen hesitated. Since Henry had fallen unconscious a week ago, she'd only let werewolves tend to the boy. If she trusted anyone to be deathly loyal, it was the werewolves. Finally, she nodded. "Of course."

Looking around, the queen sniffled. "Have you cleaned up in here?"

"Not I." The man said with a curled lip: as if the idea of actual work was a mockery to his being. "The new lass that's been carting off the bodies has taken to the job."

Red got to her feet. "She's been doing a good job. I'm half temped to eat off the floor." Red glanced down. "Half tempted."

Getting to the Prince's room was a long tedious walk. Killian was supposed to stay down in the dungeons due to his inability to contain himself around women. After tripping on every other step, he'd leer at the help and made lewd comments.

The queen would grit her teeth and reminded herself to punish him later. If he proved unknowledgeable about this brown liquid, the ex-pirate would find himself wishing he'd never left his rat infested place of work.

Walking in, two wolves instantly went on alert. They were mighty animals who did not belong contained within human walls. Yet, there they were. Both standing vigilant over the prone boy.

Seeing the queen, the wolves' fur laid back down. They eyed the drunk suspiciously and watched him keenly.

Killian stared at them with a wide smile. "Good doggie." The wolves' raised their lips at her. "Ohhh go rub yourself on the carpet."

"Killian!"

"Right." The drunk walked over to Henry's side.

The boy was pale. He almost looked like he was nothing more than a realistic painting placed in a bed. His chest moved deeply as if he was asleep. The only sign that his body was in any kind of trouble was the wet hair around his temples: sweat soaked.

The pirate observed the boy.

"Tell me something the doctors haven't." Regina dared him.

The man ignored her. He placed his head on the Prince's chest and listened. Despite his deep breaths, Killian could hear from the boy's heart that it was under duress. Finally, he moved to the boy's face. "Poor lad." Prying the boy's mouth open, Killian leaned towards him.

"Enough!" The queen snarled. The two wolves snarled at the man. He didn't back away from the boy. "You will not make a fool out of him."

"I am not, m'queen." Killian chuckled. "I am identifying the poison used."

Regina perked up. "You know of it."

"Aye. It's killed many. Tis a seed crushed into a thousand parts and puts one into a sleep that's nearly impossible to wake from. The only way to identify it is the smell of cinnamon." Gesturing for the guards and queen to approach, Killian opened Henry's mouth again. "Smell."

All the occupants inhaled. Now that she was so close to her slumbering son's face, she could smell the distinct smell of cinnamon on his breath."

"How do you wake him up?" The queen asked eagerly.

Killian made a sad sigh. "That…no man knows."

At this news, purple fire's sprang to life all over the kingdom.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Emma stared at the cell with a long sigh. Just the night before, she'd spent a large quantity of extra time to clean the cell for the queen. She'd picked clothes and flesh from all the cracks, moped up old blood, and even cleaned the torture utensils. They were rarely used as the queen preferred a magical approach but Emma had wanted to do something nice.

Emma had heard of the Prince's plight and she felt for the queen.

At first, Emma had been horrified to see the horribly tortured bodies. But now, Emma felt as if they were her connection to the queen. She didn't fool herself in thinking that the queen felt such connection but her delusion of one existing made her work easier.

Emma could tell what the queen was feeling through the state of the bodies. If the queen was mad, the bodies and room were indistinguishable as such. If the queen was sad, the bodies were barely touched. If the queen was in a rather mean spirited, almost playful mood, the bodies would be unusally placed; some posed as if reading a book, thinking, or laughing.

It was this understanding of the queen's mood that had encouraged her to do her job to the best of her ability.

When she'd first started, Emma was determined to do very little. The act of moving dead bodies was physically exhausting enough without the addition of brutal training under Grumpy's supervision. She moved the bodies and that was it.

Then, a week or so in, she looked at one of the bodies and nearly felt the force of the queen's sadness. It was if she was standing in the queen's heart and feeling what she felt. That day, she cleaned out Gus' stall and bathed the big bull when they went down to the riverside.

At first Gus had been alarmed by Emma's actions but, now, he would walk into the river and refuse to move until Emma had scrubbed him down.

Emma had then spent hours on her hands and knees and cleaning the floor. Killian, or Hook as he encouraged her to call him, had been confused by her actions. He'd probably never done anything above and beyond in his life and seemed confused why she'd suddenly thrown herself into her work.

The only part of her work that she slacked in was that infernal boar. When Hook had said that he "had an extra head of mean to him", Hook had really meant the animal had an extra head. It was a two-headed boar: twice as mean as one with one head.

Hook had explained that the boar was for the Werewolf Hunt and that they were getting the boar healthy before setting an entire pack of wolves after him. Emma didn't know who was supposed to be caring for the boar, Emma suspected Hook, but they were not doing their job. The creature was always out of water and rarely had enough food.

One the days that there were no bodies, Emma would approach the pen and toss some of Gus' hay in. The bull would bellyache about it but he could afford to lose quite a bit of weight.

Emma would talk to the animal but it only responded by ramming into the fence. Emma was afraid of the animal but, after a few weeks of talking to it, she noticed that he had stopped trying to kill her and would simply watch her untrustingly. It was progress.

Emma walked towards the smallest body. She was thankful the queen had starting burning bodies as it meant less heavy lifting for her.

She was four bodies in when Hook arrived. "Weird looking rat, ain't he?" Hook motioned to the pile of ashes. Emma arched her eyebrow at him. "No, he really is. He is very…white."

"I'll take your word for it."

Hook continued on. "He _was_ the royal chief. Fool admitted to poisoning the prince." Emma's full attention was now directed at the rambling drunk. "All the queen's horses and all the queen's men couldn't name that poison but _this_ pirate could."

"You know what poisoned the prince?"

Hook nodded. "Sure do. Some nut from the White Sea…"

A memory flickered deep in Emma's memory. She was used to receiving memories that weren't hers. Ever since Rumpelstiltskin stole that ability, it had be an uncommon occurrence.

" _Maleficent!"_

 _The dragon turned her human head to the side to face the old woman. The woman was ugly. If the word was a person, she'd be it. Vain as she was, the dragon felt as if her own beauty was diminished by being in the lady's presence._

" _I swear…" the old woman muttered, "You are the most impatient student, I've ever taught. Did you hear a thing I've said?"_

" _Yes, of course." Maleficent purred. "I hang onto your every word."_

" _Do you know?" The old woman held out her hand and opened her fist. Resting on her palm, was a nut. It looked like an almond with a black and brown spotted shell. "Then you know it's perfectly safe to eat this nut."_

" _Of course." Maleficent plucked the nut from the woman's hand. Without any fear, she plopped the nut in her mouth and made a show of chewing and swallowing it. "That was me: hanging on your every word."_

" _If you were really listening," the old woman cackled, "you would have known that that nut is called Midsummer's Dream. A deadly nut that will put anyone into a magical sleep."_

 _Maleficent's eyes widened. "That's not funny."_

" _Nor am I." The woman laughed. "It's working. I can detect the smell of cinnamon."_

" _You bettering be jesting." Maleficent warned. Deep inside her stomach, she felt something start to shift. It was as if the muscles in her stomach had fallen asleep. That feeling of numbness was starting to branch out down her limbs. A panicked squeak leapt from within her throat._

 _The old woman laughed. From her pocket, she pulled out a flower. It was a flower made of ice. "This is a Glass Rose." The old woman explained. "They are very rare and only found on the shore of the White Sea. It is the only cure to Midsummer's Dream."_

 _Maleficent made a clumsy lunge at the flower. Her fingers touched the petals and white magic stung her fingertips. Her legs fell asleep and she haphazardly toppled over onto the ground._

 _The old woman laughed again. "Only white magic can be used to touch the flower. If someone with dark magic touches it, the pain is unimaginable." The old woman knelt down next to the barely conscious dragon and placed a petal into Maleficent's mouth. "Now maybe you will listen when I talk to you."_

Emma came back to herself.

"That boy has a foot in the grave, I tell you." Hook explained. "His heart just isn't up to the job. The kingdom is already covered in purple fire with his health on decline. When he's dead….the world will burn."

Emma stared at him. He continued to talk about how he should beat the burning of the earth and escape back to the sea. Be a pirate again but Emma wasn't listening. All she could think about was a Glass Rose.

"Would the queen listen to me if I told her that I knew the cure?" Emma blurted out.

The drunk laughed. It was a loud and boisterous sound. Hook nearly split his liquor.

"That's a good one! A little orphan knows more than all the great doctors and seaman. Aye, the queen would listen to you. Listen you right to death, she would." Hook continued to chuckle. "Whew, I need to sit down after that one." He staggered off: the hearty laugh having stolen all of his strength.

And Emma stared.

And here was the thing about Emma. She was a good person. She may clean up dead bodies, be the student to the Dark one, and wield dark magic but, inside, she was genuinely concerned for others. Added to her perceived connection to the queen, Emma found herself unsettled with the knowledge that she now contained and the two choices she faced.

She could continue on her life as it or do something with the information and, since Hook kindly pointed out, the only person who would listen to her was her. The only person who could save the prince was her.

With an exasperated look at the dead man at her feet, Emma sighed. But how to get there?

Gus bellowed from below her. Emma sighed again. Well, it looked like she was heading on at trip.

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The purple fire had laid waste to most of the Dark Kingdom. The people had learned to avoid it: as the fire simply remained where it first appeared with growing or traveling. If one did not touch it, the fire would not harm them.

Really, the fire was not that much of an inconvenience. To everyone but one, that is.

Maleficent stared around her lair with barely contained fury. Everywhere, there were purple fires burning innocently. The first few had been comical to the woman. She was a dragon, what was a little fire? But, now, it felt like every time she blinked, there were more. She had dealt. Then she'd woken up to a fire burning on her pillow: inches from her face. Enough was enough. This needed to be dealt with.

The purple color had been clue enough to who was responsible for the outbreaks.

With an angry roar, Maleficent had taken to the skies. Her destination? The Dark Kingdom.

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Regina remained curled up next to her son. Gone was the picturesque prince and, replacing it, was the sight of illness. Henry's breaths were wet, his skin filmed in sweat, and his cheeks hollowed in. He was facing the end and Regina knew it.

"I'm sorry, My Little Prince." Regina sighed. She no longer had any tears to shed and simply spoke with such sadness that it drug down the air around them. "Everything I love dies."

"Not to ruin this pity party but…"

Regina let out a low warning groan. "I am not in the mood Maleficent."

"You used to be in the mood all the time." The dragon teased: hinting at their intimate past. Regina let out a much louder growl. The dragon sobered up and approached. "I didn't know."

Regina shrugged. "I tried to keep it a secret. I didn't want Snow White to think that she had won. Maybe that was a mistake. Had I let it get out maybe someone would have known the cure before…it's too late."

Maleficent lowered her head and rested her hand on her heartbroken friend's shoulder. "I have nothing to say that will ease this suffering."

"How do you do this every five years?" Regina asked.

Maleficent shrugged. "It's a horrible thing to say but, once you've lost enough children, the pain is always there but it's dull."

Regina turned her face to rest her forehead against her old friend's forearm. They were affectionate people in general but it was sometimes nice to see someone who has already seen you at your weakest.

The two women stared down at the slumbering boy in silence.

"You know, I'll never be able to eat cinnamon again."

Maleficent frowned and stared down at her friend. "What an unusual thing to say."

Regina let out a watery laugh. "I suppose without context, it is a rather unusual thing to say. The poison makes his breathe smell of cinnamon."

Maleficent nodded. "Ahhh he was poisoned by Midsummer's Dream then. Could you not find any Glass Rose?" Unaware that she was now being stared down by an intense Regina, Maleficent continued to muse aloud. "Those Golded-Tusk boars are always eating them."

"What?"

"Golded-Tusk boars, Dear." Maleficent repeated. "They'll cross oceans to eat a Glass Rose. Never could tell you why. I've had that flower. It tastes like ice."

"No. No." Regina grabbed her friend's upper arm. "Glass Rose? Is that the antidote?"

"You…didn't know." Maleficent asked. "I assumed you knew since you knew the poison!"

"Killian didn't know!"

"You were listening to Captain Hook?!"

Regina attempted to reign in her sudden influx of emotion. "This Glass Rose? Where can I find it?"

"The White Sea." Maleficent answered. "But, Regina, Henry has little time and the Glass Rose is almost impossible to find."

"I have an army of werewolves." Regina stressed. "I can find it."

"That's not all you need." Maleficent sighed. "Anyone can handle the flower once it's picked but…"

"But?"

"Only someone with white magic can pick the flower." The dragon said apologetically.

"White magic?" Regina's mind whirled. "A child of true love? Do we have any of those?" Maleficent shook her head. The Evil Queen jumped to her feet and began to pace by Henry's bedside. "White magic…" Regina's eyes lit up. "I know the person. RED!"

The werewolf stumbled through the door mere minutes later. Her beautiful amber eyes flashed at the boy and was both surprised and relieved to see that he was still alive. Her chest was heaving. Red had never heard her queen so desperate before.

"Get me that Blue Fairy!"

Red blinked. "From the White Kingdom?"

"Steal her! Invade the kingdom. I don't care how you do it but I want that Blue Fairy within the next three days."

Red stared. While she wanted to disagree with her queen, she knew better. With an awkward nod, Red agreed.

"GET GOING!" Regina screamed.

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Emma grabbed at Gus' side and attempted to climb on top of the bull. Unfortunately, having become accustom to having his belly rubbed, the bull kept flopping onto his side.

"Gus!" Emma slapped the bull's flank but the bull just stretched out his legs and laid back on his side. "This is a matter of most importance, Gus." Grabbing the bull's head, Emma pulled until the bull finally got to his feet.

Awkwardly climbing onto his back, Emma kicked his side. The bull refused to move. When Emma finally managed to get him to walk a few feet, it was clear that he would not be a suitable steed.

"I don't even know where the White Sea is." Emma groaned. Gus eyed the outside world for a few moments before turning away and walking back inside.

Then there was a snort.

The Golded-Tusk snorted from his pen. Both his mighty heads were watching her and his single tail started flickering agitatedly.

"If I let you out, you'll return to the White Sea, right?" Emma asked the boar. The giant creature swung his heads together and, the sound of his tusks hitting each other, sounded a lot like thunder.

Emma walked over to lean on the fence.

"I've been feeding you, you know." She told the giant creature. "And I know you don't like me because of my dark magic but this is really important. A little boy could die." Emma grabbed a rope and looped the end. "I'm just going to throw this over your tusk, okay?" With impressive aim, Emma tossed the rope into the pen. It landed on a tusk.

The boar began to snort. Both heads began to shake and the lone body began to buck.

"Woah." Emma cooed. The boar finally calmed. One head turned to examine the head with the roped tusk. It snorted at its counterpart and, after a few minutes, they seemed to deem it acceptable. Turning their inquisitive eyes back on Emma.

Staring at the animal, Emma pled. "Please don't maul me." Glancing over at the doe eyed bull, she added "Or Gus."

With a deep breath, she pulled the gate open. At first, nothing happened. Both heads stared at the open gate curiously. Then the boar started running. One head swung at Emma as it passed. Emma rolled out of the way but kept ahold of the rope.

On her feet, she chased after the fleeing boar. For a terrible moment, she was engulfed in panic. It wasn't that long ago when she'd been being drug behind a horse by a rope. But there was something to be said about an animal with two heads: they don't disagree on how to get to the same place.

One head would try to go right and the other would try to go left. The result: a slow moving creature that Emma wasn't really being drug after as much as walking behind. As they disappeared into the woods, Emma looked back to see Gus balling from the mouth of the barn. She hoped she'd returned alive because she liked that fat bull.

Coming to a tree, the boar walked into it as the heads couldn't decide which way to go. Emma began to snicker for it was truly a comical sight.

All she managed to do was remind the boar that she was following after it. The two heads stared at her closely before they let out an identical snort.

"Don't maul me." Emma muttered. "You promised?"

The animal charged forward. Emma swallowed and awaited her fate. There was nowhere to hide this time. Then something peculiar happened. Half of the boar suddenly stopped. This caused the creature to topple over in a spectacular cloud of dust.

When it cleared, one head was staring at Emma. The poor creature was obviously confused why Emma was not dead in a pile of ripped apart flesh but, the other one, was already attempting to continue on its journey. Clearly, the boar had two minds worth of ideas on how to handle Emma.

The aggressive boar continued to try to get the two legs it was in charge of to continue towards Emma but the other refused. Finally, with a snort at Emma, both heads decided to continue on.

Emma didn't know what she'd done to earn the protection from the one head. She'd treated them as one animal: feeding them both the same thing, talking to them both the same amount, and, yet, one clearly held her at much higher regard. Maybe there was something to be said about nature versus nurture.

She walked after the boar.

The boar moved slow but he didn't stop to rest. He kept up his slow but steady pace up and down hills, across streams, and through brush. Emma hadn't really prepared for her impromptu trip and, after a few hours, became hungry. She thought about stepping away just for a moment to pick some berries or use her wolf upbringing to chase down a rabbit. However; she knew that, the second she looked away from the boar, he would melt into the woodwork and Emma didn't trust that she'd be able to find him again.

So she walked.

She walked through the night and well into the morning. When she thought her legs would simply give out, the boar led them to a stream. With a couple of happy snorts, the boar waddled into the shallow water and collapsed with a happy grunt.

Its giant body rolled about as he wallowed happily.

Emma kept ahold of the rope and collapsed into the shade of a thick oak tree. She watched the boar enjoy his recent freedom. Her vision blurred but she fought the urge to sleep. Then the boar stopped thrashing. His breathing deepened as he happily took a well deserved nap.

Emma fell asleep.

She awoke to the rope being tugged.

"I'm up!" Emma sat up quickly: half asleep and fully expecting Lilly to be standing over her. It was not Lilly but an impatient boar. Seeing that she was awake, the one boar head swung his head again to jerk at the rope in Emma's hand.

It forced her to her feet. Satisfied that Emma was awake, the boar started to walk again: dragging Emma across the stream. Emma smiled at the bristled backside in front of her. The boar could have bolted or even walked away. There is no saying if Emma would have woken up but the boar had made sure she was awake before continuing on.

Emma was able to swipe some berries when the boar stopped to eat roots. For a few hours, she actually found herself enjoying herself. Her stomach was full, she was well-rested and she was back in nature. Then it started getting cold.

It started as an icy wind that stood her hair up on end. Then the snow appeared. It had been sudden. Within an hour, Emma went from a beautiful, green landscape to a wintery wonderland. The boar looked unaffected by the sudden change in climate but Emma could feel it down in her bones. Still though, she thought about the dying prince and the sadden queen, so she pushed forward.

Then the boar came to a hill. His hooves expertly went up the side of the slippery surface. Emma; however, was not able. She could climb the first few steps but, after hitting the sudden change in steepness and icy patch, she found herself slipping,

The boar continued on.

Emma panicked.

She attempted to scurrying after the boar. She had abandoned her post, stolen the queen's boar, and she could not return empty handed. Her feet slipped again and Emma tumbled down once again.

She laid on her back and stared at the sky. Her chest heaved and the cold sunk into her clothes onto her damaged back. "Curses." Emma whimpered.

Breath soaked her cheek. Emma flashed her eyes open to see the boar standing above her. The friendly head was staring at her with oddly adorable brown eyes that reminded her of Gus while the other head was stubbornly staring the other way.

"You still came back for me." She accused the head. The boar snorted harshly but didn't move away. Emma scrambled back to her feet. Staring at the boar, she slowly reached forward to grab a fistful of bristles.

Both boars gave her a warning snort but allowed her to cling onto them. The boar then turned and started to climb the hill again. Grabbing onto the boar, Emma was able to scale the side of the hill.

Halfway up, she felt brave. Glancing at the heads, she took a chance and swung up onto the back of the animals. The animal froze. Emma hissed. She had underestimated how painful those bristles would be on the sensitive inside of her legs. The boar shifted his weight as both heads wrapped themselves around the girl on his back.

Then he started moving again.

It was as if Emma weighed nothing because it didn't slow the boar down a little. Didn't cause him to stumble.

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"Will you please shut her up?!" Regina howled.

Trapped inside a lantern hanging on Graham's saddle bag was an irate Blue Fairy. She hadn't stopped shaking and rattling the enchanted lantern since Red had returned with it. Regina hadn't asked how her loyal werewolf had been able to kidnap the fairy but Regina had been very pleased. So pleased, in fact, that she had allowed Red to join her on her race down to the White Sea.

While all eyes had been turned towards Henry, someone had seized the chance to steal the Golded-Tusk boar and probably offed the new body carter in the process. Killian hadn't seemed to upset by the girl's most likely death and more saddened by the fact he'd have to cart the bodies away himself.

Graham reached down and started tapping the lantern quickly to make the fairy stop. The queen was already out of sorts with the latest decline in her son's health and needed no further provocation to burn them all alive.

An animal rumble filled the air around them. Flying directly above the queen was a dragon. The queen's horse, Dember, paid the beast barely any mind and continued on. Regina had wanted to run the horses until they collapsed but the White Sea was a day's ride away and it would do her no good to burn out her horses halfway through.

Maleficent had decided to join Regina on her quest. Maybe it was because of their friendship or maybe the dragon was truly bored.

Red barreled next to the running horse. She was in her wolf form and, while being smaller than Dember, she was still impressive in size. Her noise was to the ground and she was huffing loudly.

She was on the trail of the Golded-Tusk boar. The boar would obviously return to the White Sea but Red was determined not to assume. She'd keep her nose to the trail until she set eyes on the boar herself.

She was armed with a quiver full of poisoned arrows that, while not killing the boar, would disorient and weaken him enough for Graham and Red to drag him home.

As she ran, she marveled at the smell of the boar. Most humans would define the scent as "smelly" but Red knew better. Her keen senses recognized the smell of dirt, water, and straw. But there was another smell. This one was human: a mixture of death and life. It was almost familiar but, whatever aspect was familiar, was overpowered by the smell of decay.

The traveling companions came to the White Sea. This land had been settled by a tribe that had long died out. They'd named the entire, eternally white landscape The White Sea. It was clear why. The rolling drifts of snow looked like waves and the ground a placid body of white water.

Confusingly enough, the natives had also named the frozen sea _within_ The White Sea: The White Sea. This White Sea was named because it was literally a frozen sea: awake deep under feet of ice and snow. While it would have made sense to rename one, the local nobility showed their respect by keeping the original names.

The hunters; however, had renamed the landscape The White Woods and the frozen sea within was left with the name The White Sea.

Maleficent dropped from the sky and back into her human form. Rubbing her arms, the dragon huffed. "The temperature will freeze my wings off."

Regina huffed. "You didn't think of that before?"

Maleficent held her hand out towards Regina and waited patiently. Regina gave the woman a cold look and moved her horse away from the dragon. Graham pressured his horse forward and offered his hand out with a nervous smile.

Maleficent eyed him with a lecherous grin. "You'll do just fine." She swung up after him while Graham shifted uncomfortably: Maleficent's hand resting oh-so innocently on his hips and teasing with the idea of sliding them forward.

"Now," Regina snapped, "Which White Sea is the ice rose in? The woods or the sea?"

Maleficent gave a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"You don't know?" Regina whirled around. "Why did you wait until now to tell me this?"

"Why did you wait until now to ask?" Maleficent returned. Seeing the dismayed look on her friend's face, the dragon sighed. "I only know very little about the Ice Rose. I was not a very good student."

"So we have no leads?"

Maleficent rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't say that." Digging into her clothes, Maleficent pulled out a flower petal. It was transparent and looked as if it was made of glass. "Come here, wolfie."

Red gave the woman a withering glare but trotted over. Using her wet nose, the wolf greedily inhaled the smell. Her brow furrowed. The flower didn't have much of a scent. It took nearly four inhales to catch an acidic scent.

Raising her nose into the air, Red searched. Nothing revealed itself.

"Find that boar after you've found the flower, Red." Regina demanded. Red nose plowed through the snow. The wolf didn't seem to have a plan in her searching and was just rushing about in hope to catch the scent.

Regina clutched at her reins nervously. She could feel death's breath on Henry and knew that every moment they wasted, the closer he was to stealing her child.

"Be calm, Regina." Maleficent commanded. "We will save your son."

Regina nodded.

Red let out a howl. It was unexpected that all the beings jumped in surprise. The wolf suddenly charged forward. Regina sent a prayer of thanks and charged after.

"Smooth! Smooth, you beast!" Maleficent howled. Graham's inferior horseman skills were showing themselves as the horse awkwardly jolted around: nearly knocking the dragon off.

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Emma was in a daze. The slow but steady movements of the boar had all but put her to sleep. The cold biting at her exposed back ached the damaged muscles but the warmth the boar offered to her front was comforting.

Falling asleep in the cold was a death sentence. The body would simply never wake up again. But Emma didn't have to worry about that. Despite the temptations to, the bristles simply wouldn't let her.

The boar, as boars are, was covered in bristles: hard, sharp, and course hairs. They rubbed against the fabrics of her inner thighs and created such an uncomfortable pain that Emma feared her legs would simply fall off. When the bristles caused pain to her upper body, she could just adjust. If she adjusted the hold her inner legs had, she'd fall off, so there was no reprieve for her aching legs.

Still, it was a fascinating journey. The boar's two heads would clear snow to the left and right of its body: leaving snow to roll over its shoulders and onto Emma.

She uncurled her fingers. They were cold and stiff. Hastily, she slipped them into the layers of bristles in search of some warmth. When her cold fingers touched smooth skin, Emma felt the boar's tail flicked: nearly whipping her shoulder.

"Sorry." Emma mumbled into the boar's shoulder.

Then the boar slipped.

It was just a slight slip of a hoof but it jarred Emma. This boar had climbed up the face of a nearly straight cliff without a moment's hesitation. Looking around, Emma realized they were standing in a completely flat clearing. It was so flat, in fact, that Emma felt suspicion well into her. Straight lines didn't exist in nature.

The boar stopped. Both snouts dropped into the snow and they began to snort happily. They pushed snow around and revealed ice mere inches below the snow. As Emma watched, one head uncovered a plant. It looked like lettuce but a very faded green and covered in frost. The head munched at it. The other head attempted to encroach onto the food which led to some squealing and stomping.

"I guess this is a good time to stretch my legs, huh?" Emma awkwardly slid off the boar. At first, all she noticed was how stiff her legs were. She could feel a painful tingling as feeling returned.

Then the real pain began. The inside of her legs started to scream.

Emma chanced a look down and whimpered. The insides of her legs had been rubbed raw. The wound was superficial at best. The pain was relatively dull. Emma knew it was probably due to the cold but as she shifted her legs and the wound shifted, she could feel it start to wake up.

She heard a snort. The boar was getting agitated. Ignoring the strange behavior, Emma bent down to press her fingers into the skin around the wound. She hissed. Her spent living among wolves told her that it wasn't that bad. Her time among humans demanded that she limp off to find immediate help.

But she knew she had to continue. Standing straight, she came face to face to face with the boar. It wasn't munching on some variation of snow lettuce anymore. He was staring at her with all four eyes and both snouts were greedily and noisily inhaling.

"What's the matter?" Emma asked.

The amber eyes locked onto the torn and bloody scraps of her pants. As Emma watched, the boar's stomach rumbled with enough power that she could see it jiggle through the animal's layer of fat.

Stepping towards her, the boar stepped on the lettuce. Clearly, the plant was no longer as appealing than the scent and appearance of raw flesh. Emma swallowed. She had become sentiment in her attachment to the boar. Everyone knew that boars were dangerous and that Golded-Tusk boars were omnivores: willing to eat anything to stay alive.

"Easy, boy." Emma whispered. She took a step back. The crunching of snow beneath her heel made the boar's ears twitch. The boar huffed again. "Well, I hate to ride and dash but…" Emma kicked snow at the boar's faces: hopefully blinding the suddenly hungry animal for a moment.

Emma started to run.

The boar followed suit. He charged after her. Emma, weighing less, was able to remain on the few inches of snow and get some traction. The boar; however, instantly sunk onto the layer of ice and sloppily attempting to chase her. His inability to gain his balance was the only reason that Emma was able to stay out of reach.

"If that's the shore…" Emma eyed the treeline to her right. Obviously, the trees stopped once the sea began. She changed direction and started running away from the trees: farther into the sea. The boar followed.

Emma heard a rip. The boar was so close that one of his tusks had ripped the bottom of her shirt.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Emma questioned herself.

Then the boar was on her heels and Emma knew the next tusk would be lodged in her flesh. Then she heard it. A crack. Emma smiled and ran faster. As fast as her legs could carry her. Another crack: much louder.

Then the boar was gone.

Emma hit an uncovered section of ice and she went sliding. Getting off the ground, Emma surveyed around herself and let out a victorious laugh. It was a sad laugh. In mere moments, her traveling companion and a creature she had had some bond with had turned on her and attempted to kill her. Instead, she had killed him.

Emma slowly approached the hole in the sea. The ice had handled Emma's inferior weight fine but given out under the boars. Emma stared into the nearly black waters. She didn't really expect to see the boar but she continued looking.

"Which prison do you prefer?" Emma asked the hole. "The barn: warm and safe or the water: dead but free?" Emma shrugged. "Guess I'll never know."

Feeling the bitter cold start to assault her body, Emma sighed. Without the boar's heat, she had to get this flower and leave before she froze to death. Sinking beside the hole in the ice, Emma sat cross legged.

Using her fingers, she drew the flower from memory in the snow. It was a crude drawing but it didn't need to be perfect. She scooped up the snow in her hands like she was holding something alive and precious. Closing her hands, Emma blew onto the snow. A stream of black magic exited from her mouth and onto the snow.

Nothing happened.

Emma scowled.

"Right, I have to use white magic." Emma mumbled. "I can still do that. Hopefully."

If being evil was needed to use black magic, Emma attempted to picture happy thoughts to use her lost white magic. Sitting in the cold snow with bleeding legs and next to the death place of her most recent companion, Emma struggled for such thoughts.

She started to blow. The magic was still black. Closing her eyes, Emma struggled to remember when she'd been happy. It came to her in a memory and, for once, it was hers. She could feel fur brushing her sides and she ran through the green forest around her. Pups darted through her feet and the wind tickled against her being: naked as the day she was born.

The stream of black magic being blown from her lips flickered.

She could remember the alpha female pretending to be in pain when Emma bit her side: encouraging her to use her teeth.

The black magic began to warble.

She could remember lying under a starry sky. Her pack mates had all curled around her to keep her furless body warm. All around her she could hear their steady breathing and feel their love for her through the warmth of their offered body.

Emma opened her eyes. She blew again. It was a moment: only three or four seconds of pure, white magic being poured onto the snow. Then it died off again.

The snow in her hand began to glow. The snow began to melt: drops slipping from between her fingers and palms. Opening her palms, all the water from the melted snow dropped away and revealed a small and weak glass plant. It wasn't as beautiful as the flower she'd seen in Maleficent's memories but it would do. It would have to.

Emma shoved the plant into her pocket carefully.

Then there was a crack. Startled, Emma looked up to see the lake cracking almost ten feet away from the shore. Another crack. Suddenly, the boar emerged through the ice. His front hooves scraped against the slippery, ice surface as he struggled to pull his giant body onto the shore. Both heads squealed and shrieked with each failed attempt.

The boar continued to shove forward and broke the ice all the way to the shore until his back feet met dirt and the boar was able to awkwardly push himself out of the ice cold water. The boar shivered, both heads panting visible air, and ice clinging to his bristles.

Not sparing Emma a look, the boar lumbered into the snow and back into the woods.

Emma released her breath once the animal was out of view. With a long sigh, Emma started her long trek home.

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Regina pulled her horse to a stop at the end of the tree line. "This is the shore to the sea." The queen announced. "Are you sure this is where the flower is?"

The werewolf panted but nodded. This is where the trail had led her. She could smell the snow on the lake. It smelled like the snow itself was made of flowers.

Graham's bulky horse suddenly appeared.

"That was horribly unpleasant." Maleficent groaned. "I feel sea sick." The dragon dismounted and gave Graham a withering look. "I do fear your horse has four legs of all different sizes."

"Now what?" Regina demanded.

"You have to summon the flower." Maleficent explained. "That's where you need white magic."

Graham clumsily untied the lantern from his saddlebag and handed it to the queen. Regina marveled at the lantern for a moment before tossing it into the air. She quickly blasted it with a bought of purple magic.

The lantern broke apart and, from it, fell a small, blue light. It hit the snow and transformed into a woman wearing a blue dress.

"Blue!" Regina greeted with a twisted smile. "Did you enjoy your ride?"

"Regina!" The disgruntled fairy screeched. "What is the meaning of this? You had your…dog kidnap me and stuff me in that lantern which, if you were wondering, does not contain a bathroom. Now you've drug me to this waste land?! For what purpose?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Calm yourself, Fairy. I need your help."

"I have half a mind to turn you into a toad." Blue shot back. "And why would I help you?"

"I need you to summon a Glass Rose."

Blue seethed in near rage. "Such a rare ingredient must only be needed for an evil spell. I refuse to do it."

"I can tear her wings away." Maleficent offered helpfully.

Blue clutched herself. "Threats won't work, you scaly thing. I won't be forced into aiding your evil quest after Snow White."

"For once, this has nothing to do with Snow White." Regina explained stiffly. "I need your help, Blue. Please."

The fairy paused. The queen had just used the word 'please'. This was no mere favor and they now both knew it.

"My son has been poisoned. He is near death. The Glass Rose is the antidote but I cannot get it without your help." In that moment, Regina looked much younger. Despite her extravagant clothes and dark makeup, Blue saw her for what she really was: a desperate mother.

"I see." Blue whispered. "I'm sorry to hear it. It does not change the fact that I cannot help you."

"Why?! You'd rather see an innocent boy die than grant me any ounce of happiness."

"Of course not! The only way to summon a Glass Rose is white magic." Blue explained. Twirling her fingers about, she summoned a blue mist. "I am a blue fairy. I use blue magic."

"Good, lovey magic is all the same." Regina snapped.

"Light magic is all the same: no matter the color as long as it's made from pureness and used for the intention of good. White magic is different than blue magic which is different than yellow magic." Seeing the look in the queen's eyes, Blue held her hand up. "I shall try summoning the flower but, be warned, it will not work."

"Try still." Regina urged.

Blue stared out over the frozen sea. Sighing, she began to draw in the air. When she was done, there was a glowing flower floating in the sky. Blue began to blow on the floating lights with blue magic. The flower seemed to shake: a mountain rumbling as it mulled the idea of a landslide, before the flower lights simply went out.

Regina threw her head back and let out a scream. It was so powerful that the dragon would have been in awe if not for the feeling of sadness she felt for her friend. Dember snorted under Regina and began to step side.

Defeated, The Queen dropped her hands down onto the animal's neck and soothed his frazzled nerves. "It's okay, boy. Nothing is going to happen." Untangling some of his mane, Regina repeated "Nothing is going to happen".

"My Queen?" Graham rode next to her with questioning and calm eyes. Regina swallowed another scream.

"I will be returning to be with my son during his last moments." Regina announced. "Red, as a reward for your tracking abilities, you are dismissed to hunt down the boar." The wolf let out an unsure huff. Regina waved the wolf off and the group watched as the wolf sadly loped into the white woods with her nose pressed into the ground.

"Graham." The queen commanded. "Make sure you take Blue wherever she wishes to go. She rides with my gratitude, so treat her as if she were me." The man nodded and approached the blue fairy.

"I'd prefer to go back into the lantern." Blue announced. Rubbing her arms and dropping her wings down, the fairy shivered. "Fairies aren't made for cold weather." Regina twisted her wrist and Blue was gone. In her place, stood the upright lantern that was glowing blue.

Graham dismounted, gently grabbed the lantern, and returned to his horse. Seeing that his queen needed time alone, he quickly left.

Maleficent walked to Dember's side and placed her hand on Regina's boot.

"I am not in the mood." Regina snapped.

"Nor am I." Maleficent said gently. "If you hadn't noticed, I am without a horse." Regina gave her friend a slow and sad smile.

"Come along then. I have a dead boy to see."

Maleficent sighed. "I'm sorry, my friend."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Red barreled forward. Her nose tracked the smell of a wet boar but her mind remained rooted to her beloved queen and her dying son. The she-wolf wished she could do anything to help but, being connected to nature as she was, she knew that sometimes death was inevitable.

Bursting around a fallen tree, Red beheld the Golded-Tusk Boar in all his glory. He was covered in a thin layer of ice. He seemed barely able to keep to his feet and Red had to wonder how he'd survived in the wild before now if he was already near death and only been free for mere days.

The boar turned both heads to look at her. Each head made a show of being aggressive but, when both heads swung the same direction, the weak animal was thrown off balance and toppled over. The boar let out a miserable and weak cry but continued to lay there.

Red stood over the animal. She had planned on herding the boar back to the kingdom: biting as his heels and side until he returned to his pen. His inability to walk hadn't been planned on and now Red was alone to figure out how to return him home.

Lunging forward, Red sank her formidable teeth into the boar's exposed flank. She had hoped the boar would become enraged to the point of leaping up. Instead, the boar kicked futilely with his short back legs and squealed.

With a long sigh, Red posed herself over the boar's exposed throat. Red and her pack had been very excited to hunt this mighty creature and she knew they would disappointed to miss their annual hunt but they would understand. Understand that Red could not let the boar lie there and freeze to death. Understand that, by ripping the boar's throat out, at least the animal could die with some honor.

She'd barely sunk her teeth into the throat, when a snowball collided into the back of her ear. Startled, the wolf reared back. The boar swung his head and Red was nearly impaled with sharp tusks. Backing away from the struggling boar, Red looked around to see the culprit.

There was a girl. She wasn't a child by any means nor was she a woman. A teenager on the precipice of being extremely ascetically pleasing. She was clearly not dressed for the weather but didn't seem to be overly concerned with her own well-being and much more focused on the boar's life.

"Leave him alone!" The girl hollered. She looked around for a weapon and settled on another handful of snow. "There could be a little rock in here and it just might take out one of your eyes." The girl threatened.

Red stared. Something about this girl was very familiar. Sniffing, Red approached. The girl's blonde hair sparked some memory of this girl being Lilly's errand girl. But it was deeper than that.

"I said stay back." The girl warned: tossing the snow ball. It hit the wolf in the shoulder but Red barely felt it. "I said… _stay back_ ". Red stopped. The girl had bared her teeth, hunched her shoulders, and, rather she realized it or not, she had just spoke in a language that a wolf could understand.

Red recognized her: for she only knew of two people raised by wolves: Graham and the wolf-girl Emma. Seeing as this was obviously not Graham, Red knew she was face to face with Emma.

She gave a slow wag of her tail. She wasn't surprised the feral girl didn't recognize her. They'd been a part of each other's life for a very short time. Still, Red marveled at the civilized behavior of the girl. Gone was the stumbling, playful behavior of a feral child and replaced with a commanding and almost regal personality that was very much human. Whatever workhouse she was sent to obliviously did a good job.

"Okay, wait." Emma put her hands up as Red continued forward. "You can't eat me. I'm sure you hear that a lot but I have something to do. It's life or death." Red continued to approach nonthreateningly and watching for that moment when Emma recognized her.

The girl continued to back up. She put both her hands up as if surrender. Red's eyes were drawn to the flower in her hand. Her jaw dropped open.

"I really have to get this flower to a little boy. He will die without it."

Red lunged into the girl: pinning her to the snowy ground. The girl yelped and her feet uselessly kicked at the wolf's immovable underbelly while trying to shove the wolf's chest with her free hand. The other hand, Red noted, was clutched the flower to her chest in an attempt to not break it.

Upon closer inspection, Red began to sniff the flower. It was the same scent that Maleficent's flower had. This was the Glass Rose.

Red lunged forward and took the flower in her mouth. It wasn't until she pulled back and tasted blood that she realized, in her hurry, she had gotten more than just the flower. Emma didn't seem to realize that she had been bitten and grabbed at Red's mouth to retrieve the flower. "Give that back! I have to give it to the Queen."

Red let out a snort. If she had time, she'd explain it to the girl. As the Prince was running on borrowed time, Red made a note to return for the girl later. Right now, she had to get the flower to the queen.

Shoving off the girl, the wolf turned and began to race back to the kingdom. The queen had left only an hour or so but Red could not catch up. She wondered if the dragon had picked up the horse and flew them back, so Regina could have more time with her son.

So Red pushed herself. Pushed until her teeth shook from the force of her breathing, her heart rate was so fast that she couldn't feel it beating, and her muscles were so tired that Red's gait turned awkward as her legs refused to bend. Her vision was spotted and she could hear the wind whipping her ears deaf.

Usually, it would have taken a horse and rider two days to reach the kingdom but Red did it within the day. She ran through the cobbled stone kingdom. If people didn't want to be trampled, they were forced to jump out of her way. Those few who weren't fast enough, were crushed under Red's gigantic paws.

She raced at the gate. She feared stopping. She knew if she stopped, even just long enough for them to open the gate, her body would give up. The Queen's soldiers saw her coming and attempted to get the gates open but, realizing that they weren't moving fast enough, Red didn't something that wolves don't usually do. She climbed.

Using her speed and a few footholds, the wolf went over the impressively high iron gate and landed with enough force to make then soldier's armor shake. No one was there to open the door for her, so Red simply rammed the door and turned the once proud door into a pile of splinters.

Maids and soldier's shrieked as the wolf streaked through the halls.

Seeing the prince's room, Red let out an exhale. Then she tried to stop. Her entire body buckled. Dropping to the floor, the wolf slid past the door and into the empty suit of armor that had been placed across from the prince's door.

The door was flung open and the Queen stormed into the hall. She was just as formidable as ever but her eyes were stained red from crying. "What is the meaning of this, Wolf?!"

Red thrashed her tired body to knock away the armor on top of her.

"You better…" Regina's voice died off when she saw the flower sticking from between the wolf's heaving jaws. The queen walked slowly. It was almost as if the queen was afraid of startling the flower. Leaning down, the queen plucked the flower from Red's mouth and stared in wonder. "Is this...?"

Red managed a nod before dry heaves and coughs overtook her powerful frame. The queen whirled and raced into the room. Red could hear the queen showing the flower to Maleficent and demanding she hurry.

Red kicked the armor away, winced as she put pressure on her overused muscles, and drug herself into the prince's room. She'd blame it on the exhaustion and closeness to unconsciousness but she entered the prince's room without the queen's permission.

Sitting by the side of his bed, the wolf surveyed the young prince. His skin had taken on a green hue, his hair was slick with sweat, and his breathing was raspy and wet. The wolf rested her exhausted head on the bed and waited patiently.

Regina and the dragon were clumsily mixing potions on the boy's desk. There was an explosion of snowflakes that filled the air. The delirious wolf went wide eyed at the snow. Using her teeth, the werewolf tugged the blanket up and used her nose to tuck the boy in.

Regina shoved the wolf's head away.

"Hello, My Love." She whispered to her sick son. "This is going to feel weird but it should make you feel better." Brushing his hair from his face, she dipped her hands into a creamy paste. She drug the white paste over her forehead, on both of his cheeks, and all over his thin chest.

The mixture glowed a dim white.

The Prince inhaled deeply. It was as if he had suddenly had life breathed back into him. His breathe cleared from it's raspy prison and evened out until they sounded healthy. The boy's flittered open just for a moment. Brown eyes locked onto the queen.

"Mom?"

The boy stayed awake long enough to give the evil queen a weak but genuine smile before falling asleep again.

The Queen tearfully gathered the boy into her arms and pressed kisses across her pale face: leaving smeared lipstick behind. Finally, placing her boy back into the bed and tucking him in, Regina let the waterworks fall down her cheeks.

Maleficent watched the scene with an edge of cold detachment. Her eyes drifted towards the exhausted wolf who nearly a delirious state.

"Say Wolf," Maleficent drummed her fingers on her jaw, "How did you get that flower?"

Shifting back, Red's muscles shook at her attempt to stand. "Do you remember that wolf-girl we sent to the workhouse?"

"I don't know this girl." Maleficent waved off. "But I do know that the knowledge of the Ice Rose is mine and mine alone. Tell me, is this girl blonde?"

Red looked surprised but nodded.

A suspicion started to grow in the dragon. A suspicion she'd had for a long time brewed back to the top of her mind. She may not have been involved with foreign affairs but it wasn't hard to realize that the girl emerging from her egg was nearly identical to the day in which Snow White and Prince Charming had lost their daughter.

Of course, she'd thought they could be one and the same. She hadn't cared but, now that it was relevant to her life, she supposed it would be interesting to quench her dull curiosity.

As Maleficent was mulling over the girl's identity, Red finished explaining the blonde's presence.

"So," Regina held her son's warming hand in her palm, "This wolf-girl had gotten the flower for _my_ son?"

"It would appear so."

Regina hmmed thoughtfully. She didn't make a habit of remembering pheasants but she did distinctly remember trying to have the girl beheaded and then throwing her into a workhouse. Why had the girl, after being treated so, decided that she must risk her life to save Regina's son? No one was that good a person.

"Well, I suppose I should thank such a selfless hero." Regina stated.

Finding the selfless hero was actually very easy.

At first Red had been stressed at the prospect of finding the girl again. She was a fantastic tracker but the girl had had days to move from the last time Red had saw her. While she was geared for a long search, she was rather relieved to see the girl trekking over the hill in sight of Pinocchio's camp.

Regina let out an impressed whistle. "She did grow up nice."

The queen was clearly enjoying the sight of the girl walking down the hill. Emma's hand was cradled into her arm. From the distance, Red could hear the girl grumbling about her injured hand and felt that Emma's ire was directed at her.

Regina continued to watch the girl from afar. With her gold blonde hair and lithe body, the queen decided the universe had done her a favor by not beheading the girl before she could hit puberty.

Kicking Dember's side, she spurred him towards the girl. Approaching the girl, she was amused to see Emma not even bother to look up. The sound of hoof beats seemed to make the girl shrink into herself.

Even as she stopped Dember directly in front of the girl, Emma refused to raise her eyes. The horse's ear perked up. In a bout of curiosity, the warhorse pressed quickly pressed his nose into the girl's shoulder. Emma flinched backwards and jerked away from the horse's touch.

This girl is rather timid, Regina thought. The girl's attraction started to dwindle away. Cowards couldn't be attractive no matter how impressive her cheekbones were.

"Won't even look at your Queen?" Regina asked sharply.

Emma looked up. Before even looking to the queen, Emma's eyes took in Dember's form. The horse's ear perked up again and Regina honestly thought the animal would actually reach his nose forward for a pat.

The girl's deliciously tanned skin suddenly lost all hue. Her eyes widened and it looked like she had seen a ghost. She stared at the horse with barely contained horror, wrapped her arms around herself as if to protect herself, before her green eyes rolled and the girl collapsed backwards in a comical heap of flesh.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen you make a girl's legs jelly." Maleficent laughed. She was in full dragon form. Her voice erupted from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The dragon's eyes were scowering the girl's face. It _was_ the memory stealer. And that was definitely a Charming jawline.

"Apparently it doesn't take much." Regina replied unimpressed. Staring down at the collapsed girl, Regina curled up her lip. "I was going to present her with my thanks; however, I'll forgive her for abandoning her post in the dungeon and not execute her."

Red stared at the girl. Gone was the girl who had thrown a snowball at a werewolf in defense of a two-headed boar and was raised by noble wolves. As soon as Emma had set eyes upon the horse, Red could smell the overwhelming smell of fear wafting off her. Apparently someone had a fear of horses.

"She isn't as impressive as you made her out to be." Regina remarked to her wolf.

Maleficent slid her giant head between the two: nearly resting it alongside Dember's backside. "I wouldn't be so sure, My Dark Queen." The dragon rumbled. "I happen to know this girl. She once stole all of my memories which is how she knew about the Glass Rose. Interestingly, she doesn't seem to possess the ability anymore." Her tongue flipped out to touch her nose. "Memory stealers have a unique smell of snow and lime. She smells like…ashwood."

The dragon's head slid further. "Somehow she ended up in my egg and the magic of the fetus transformed her from an infant to a young adult. You should have seen her wiggling around the ground and sucking on her palm like some child."

"An infant to a preteen because of a magical dragon fetus?" Regina mused. "What a magical world we live in."

"That is not even the best part." The dragon purred. "Someone would have lost an infant the same day as that couple. Oh, what was there name?" The dragon tilted its head from side to side in mock confusion. "It wasn't Hail Green and Duke Ugly. Right. It was Snow White and Prince Charming."

A shocked silence filled the air.

"Are you implying…?" Regina growled dangerously.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you, with great confidence, that she is the lost princess of the White Kindgom."


End file.
